A Hunter's Heartbreak
by Ryurasuke
Summary: A tragic story about a young hunter who just graduated from the hunting academy. Her secret crush travels with her, but she is too shy to reveal her feelings.  All O/C based from myself or friends.Rated M for language, adult humor, and slight lemons.
1. Chapter 1

Ryuhime was so nervous. Finally, after ten years of academic trials, in addition to the massive amounts of preparation, finally it was time for her Final Exam. The test was required to all hunters who wished to be established with a Guild branch. Passing would mean receiving an emblem to denote her rank to all hunters, in addition to giving her a method of escaping her house. Failure, for her at least, would mean ridicule and mockery from her peers, and, even worse, she would lose Xera.

Xera, a tall, lithe, and sensual girl, was pretty much Ryuhime's only friend. She was beautiful, confident, _perfect,_ everything Ryuhime wasn't, and although she'd never admit it, Ryuhime had a secret crush on her. She was far too shy to openly admit as much to anybody, even herself. Why would Xera like a girl like Ryuhime anyway? Nobody liked Ryuhime, not even herself. She only liked two things about herself: her voice, nothing really special, but she enjoyed the melody of it; and her hair: a vibrant purple that easily distinguished her from everybody else. Nothing else though. She was short and absolutely hated that fact. Added to that, she felt that her body was disproportionate. She had almost no fat lining her body, except for her breasts. She hated them more than anything else, even above her hatred for her height. Her breasts were huge, far too big to be comfortable for a girl of normal height, and she wasn't. They were almost three times larger than her fist, over twice as large as almost any other girl's in the class. The rest of her body was compact, thin, muscular, but not hard. She had a good body, soft and pleasing to the eyes. She hated every inch of it. She liked Xera's body: tall, lean, muscled yet still soft, and she wasn't nearly as buxom as Ryuhime. Hers were only small mounds, barely enough to actually cup in one's hand. At least, that was what Ryuhime inferred from what she saw. Xera chose to cover her private areas completely, no matter the situation, even after practice battles when they bathed. Either way Ryuhime preferred Xera's to her own.

Ryuhime looked up as the door opened. _Is it Xera? _She thought hopefully.

A rigid-bodied young man walked into the large gathering room. Muscles rippled across his imposing form as he swaggered around. _Ivan, _Ryuhime thought his name with disgust. A total braggart, he honestly believed that he was a divine gift to all women, and he was more than willing to share his "charms" with all of them. The majority of the class detested him. Even the girls who had succumbed, few though they were, still didn't like him. He personally hated Ryuhime though. She'd completely denied his advances and mocked him doing so.

He stared across the room at her. Good, he's chosen to sit on the other side of the room. And what a room! The gathering area also functioned as a training room and a practice area for both novices and experienced hunters. It was large enough to easily contain all but the largest monsters, even several leviathans simultaneously. Once, when it was flooded, they had had two lagiacrus and a full team of hunters; there was still enough room for strategies and dramatic aquatic maneuverings! It was similar in size to the arenas where hunters wagered their lives for money and the crowd's approval. And even over all of that immense space, she could still easily see all of the adulterous leers he sent her way.

She shivered underneath that oppressive glare. Then two slender arms twined their way around her torso. She squealed and leapt to her feet, disentangling the arms from her waist. She wheeled about to see who would dare. "Oh, it's you." She said, immediately cheerful when she saw who it was.

Xera, she was probably the only person who would dare. Ryuhime gave her a once-over. She was still at least a foot taller than Ryuhime, but Ryuhime liked Xera's height. Xera's night-black hair was still worn like always, long and loose in a sweeping curtain down her back to her waist. It looked silky and soft as always as well. Ryuhime idly toyed with the end of one of her forward tails. Even Xera's hair was so much more beautiful than hers.

Ryuhime wished she could've worn her hair like that. She shivered again, this time in fear. She couldn't wear it long, it would provide an easy handhold for _them _to grab.

Xera got her out of her stupor. She leaned forward, knocked Ryuhime's hand aside, and gave a tug on both of the jeweled metal pieces holding Ryuhime's tails. Ryuhime remembered why she liked wearing her hair tied into the dual tails at the front of her head, one to either side of her face. Of course, Xera liked playing with them. She kept her hair restrained with her most important items; the last keepsakes from her mother adorned her fore-tails. Twin, rather large, silver bands embedded with sapphires in a flower design. Each of the bands was about as large as her thumb. Everyday when she woke up she gathered her hair into the two tails, one on either side of her head, and then clasped both with her mother's keepsakes. And Xera liked them, so of course Ryuhime couldn't not wear it like that.

"Hey!" Ryuhime exclaimed as Xera tugged her head downward to stare at the ground. "What was that for?"

"You were staring at Ivan again. What, do you have a crush on him?" Xera leaned in close to hear the response.

Ryuhime leaned in close, conspiratorially, and beckoned Xera even closer. She looked around quickly, then shouted in Xera's ear, "No of course not!"

Xera staggered back and flicked Ryuhime in the forehead. Ryuhime flinched back and blinked her eyes several times to clear them. "Ow…What was that for?" She asked Xera.

"You shouted at me," Xera said sadly, on the verge of crying.

"Sorry!" Ryuhime said hurriedly. She hated making people feel bad, especially Xera. "Please don't be mad at me!"

Xera tackled her to the floor. "I'm not mad at you silly! I'm just messing with you! Stop worrying so much, jeez!" Xera then jumped back to her feet and tugged on Ryuhime's hairpieces until she stood back up.

"Owowowowowowow!" Ryuhime staggered back up to her feet. "That hurts you know."

"Too bad, you yelled at me." Xera said as she twirled around to stalk toward the bleachers. "That's what you get!" She lounged across several of the seats, getting herself quite comfortable before beckoning to Ryuhime. Ryuhime, of course, immediately ran over to sit on the ground at Xera's feet.

"You know, there are seats you can sit on, right?" Xera prodded Ryuhime in the back of the head.

"Well…yeah…b-but…umm…" Ryuhime stuttered. "I just like to sit on the ground." Which was true, even during class she'd rather sit on the floor instead of in one of the numerous seats strewn in the rooms.

"Yeah, whatever you dink," Xera made a vague waving gesture with one of her hands. "Grrrrrrrrr." She was growling, that meant she was annoyed. "When are they going to get here so we can do _something_?"

Before Ryuhime could respond the doors at one end of the room flew open. In stalked the "teachers," a score of experienced hunters who, for whatever reason, had chosen to teach another generation rather than continue their own legacies. They strode confidently, an aura of excellence radiating from them. They lined up along the front wall in accordance to their rank. All the way to the right stood the most veteran of them: Michael. He was fidgeting, as usual. He made it no secret that he didn't want to be there; in fact, if he hand hadn't been bitten off by a fatalis (or so he claimed), he would've continued going out to hunt with the best of them. Next to him stood the only female teacher, Lynn. Ryuhime didn't know anything about the other eight teachers; she'd only ever had one of those two. Midway through her first year she'd been taken from her class and advanced ahead a year to a higher level class. Soon after she'd been advanced again, putting her two years ahead of her peers. But the teachers didn't want her to go out as an inexperienced hunter and get herself killed. They'd held her back, giving her extra classes and private sparring lessons with the both of them. They'd even taken her out on a couple of actual hunts, low level ones without much danger, but still, they were actual quests. She'd gained much more experience than any of her peers.

Lynn took two steps forward from the other instructors and addressed the congregation of students, "The forty-three of you, here in this room right now, have surpassed all of the challenges we have set before you and ascended to the level where we cannot truly teach you anything more. Therefore, as of this moment, you have the right to be called hunters."  
Michael now took a step forward, "You now have the right, but we're not going to honor it." A large collective groan went out from the whole of the group of students. Ryuhime swept her head around. _Did they think they were just going to hand out the ranks? Didn't they know they had a Final Examination?_ Apparently not. "Today you will be challenged once more, with a final exam before you're awarded the title of 'hunter.'"

"Gather together in groups of no more than four." Lynn was back in charge. "You are more than allowed to go about this challenge alone, but I strongly advise against it. You have five minutes to form your groups."

Immediately everybody started to pair up with their closest friends. Ryuhime stayed close to Xera's side; she wanted to make sure they were on a team together. Then she saw where Xera was now walking to, another group of her own friends, people Ryuhime didn't know. There were three of them standing around waiting for her. _Three._ That meant that Xera didn't want to take the exam with her, she'd rather do it with her own friends. They must have all grown close during classes Ryuhime wasn't in. While she was busy memorizing all of the monsters types, weaknesses, everything that could possibly be learned about every monster, they were busy becoming friends, allies, people they knew they could rely on. Ryuhime felt a surge of envy as she realized that she didn't have that. The only one in her class she knew was Xera, she knew most of their names, but she only really Xera. And if Xera was going to go with them, who would Ryuhime be able to say she could rely on? Who would even want to partner up with her?

Ryuhime turned and began to scan the area for somebody who wasn't in a group already. It appeared that everyone was already teamed up. She only saw two people who were alone. One was a lance-wielder, a guy who preferred to hunt by himself; he would never want to hunt with Ryuhime. The other was…Ivan…He would definitely want to hunt with Ryuhime, but she didn't want to be anywhere near him.

She could do it alone…probably…whatever it was…

She started to walk away to give Xera and her friends space. As she wandered off a firm hand clasped onto her shoulder, holding her in place. She started to shrug it off, but stopped herself midway. She turned again to see Xera holding her in place. "Where do you think you're going?"

Ryuhime responded sullenly. "Well, you already have three other people going with you…I was going to leave so you had some room around you…"

"And what group were you going to go with?"

Ryuhime started stuttering at this inquiry. "W-well, I didn't really have a group figured out, so I was just going to do whatever they wanted us to do by myself…"

Xera flicked her in the forehead again. "You really are a dink. The smartest dink I know, but still a dink. You really thought I was just gonna leave you alone? You're the only student in our grade who's had hands-on training and hunting experience with _two_ of the teachers! Of course I want to hunt with you, you dink! Besides only two of them are my friends. The other one's one of Ivan's buddies." She said his name in disgust. "The little one, his name's Tiny. He's Ivan's friend and is really strong. Despite the company he keeps he's still a pretty good kid, really reliable in a pinch. He's gonna be going with Ivan. The other two are my friends. The girl's name is Nailah. She's pretty good, but she's definitely delicate. She sticks to the bow or bowgun for the most part. The guy's one of her _friends_, I think his name's Wolf or something. He's a show-off, but unfortunately he's actually good. I know, I know, me saying that some guy's strong." She was mocking herself and 'Wolf' both. He must have been really good though, Xera hated giving men any appreciation whatsoever. In fact, Ryuhime couldn't think of another time Xera had given a guy a complement like that, she was very biased against men, so this Wolf guy must really have been good.

Xera dragged her over to the pair. "Hi, how're you? You must be the famous Ryuhime, right? Xera won't shut up about you, you know? You must really be something because usually I have a hard time getting Xera to say anything. I hope you don't disappoint otherwise I'll be very annoyed with Xera for leading me astray," All of this came out in a rush, words tumbling over each other in their rush to escape Nailah's mouth. She had a distracted look on her face that made Ryuhime wonder if the girl even realized what she was saying. "By the way I'm Nailah and he's Ulf. He's like the best I know. I'm pretty sure that he's gonna end up this year's champion and usually when I say things like that I'm right. And when I say that he's good I really mean it, I mean really, really good. He took on a whole bunch of the little jumpy things, like twenty or thirty all by himself and he made it look _so _easy. He's so awesome and powerful and amazing and the best and m-"

She cut off abruptly when Ulf covered her mouth with his hand. Though he didn't press down against her skin, she immediately stopped talking and focused on it. She lunged forward with her teeth and bit down softly on the pads of his fingers. He flicked his fingers, almost purring in her ear, "Ow."

"Wimp," She came back with in a voice just as husky as his had been.

Xera cleared her throat loudly. "You know, not all of us want to see you two being so, ah _active,_ right here in front of everybody."

Ulf swatted lightly at the top of Nailah's head, "She's right you know, love."

"I know," Nailah whined. "But _I_ want to!"

"Okay, okay, later, not now. I don't want anybody but me to see you like _that."_

"Okay to both of you." Xera's input caused both of them to stare at her. "Now, stop undressing each other with your eyes and focus."

"What are we focusing on? They haven't actually told us what they expect us to do yet. They haven't said yet, right?" Ulf looked like he honestly didn't know. He was obviously more interested in examining Nailah than the final examination.

"Shhhhh." Ryuhime shushed him, speaking up for the first time since she'd joined the party.

Ulf shouted out in joy as she spoke. "Hooray! She speaks!" Immediately, everybody except for Nailah and Ryuhime shushed him again. He whirled his head around for a minute or so before realizing that everybody was looking at the front of the room.

Lynn had taken the stage again. "For your final examination, we ask you only to do one simple task. Hunt down and defeat a bird wyvern. You even get to choose which type and which one you want to hunt. You will be graded on how well you all did, how injured you come back, and how dangerous your monster was. Each of the groups will have another five minutes to decide, by consensus, which of the bird wyverns they wish to eliminate. Remember, the most important rule of hunting is teamwork. Half a minute's already passed; the quests are up on the far wall. Pick faster."

Immediately people started leaping up to their feet and rushing toward the back wall. Nailah leapt up to follow them, but Ulf grabbed hold of the back of her skirt and held her back. "There'll are plenty of quests on that wall. I'm sure that we don't have to worry love. We should each put forth our vote before we pick a quest."

Xera nodded solemnly and asked them all, "Alright, so what's it gonna be? I personally need a better grade."

Ulf responded with, "Me too. I'm the best when it comes to weapons, but I don't test well. I suggest we hunt a velocidrome, iodrome, or something stronger. Nailah love?"

"I like Ulf's plan." She answered.

Ryuhime and Xera shared a long look. "Didn't see that comin, did you?" Xera asked.

Ulf put on an obviously faked look of innocence and turned to face Ryuhime. It took her a moment to realize that everybody else was staring at her as well. "Well?" They chorused.

"Oh," She stuttered. She hadn't meant to hold them up. "Well, um, I thought we should do a weaker monster. Like a great jaggi or something. We aren't really used to fighting together so we should do something like that for practice."

"Well, since we only have to do the one quest together, and the fact that I've hunted a congalala already, I'm pretty sure that we can handle something a little more powerful." Ulf tried to coerce her. _He'd already hunted a congalala! Nailah was right he was strong! _Ryuhime's thoughts were whirling at that admission. _Novices like them weren't allowed to hunt something like that! _He continued speaking, "If you're so scared, you don't have to do anything, I can take your share of the work too."

Ryuhime straightened, "I-I can fight too. I just thought we should be safe."

"Good, then we're all agreed," Ulf said as he headed toward the back wall to accept their quest.

"Agreed on what?" Ryuhime asked naively.


	2. Chapter 2

Ulf led the way, the enormous longsword across his back bobbing in tune to his stride. Right behind him ran Nailah, her bow appearing far too large for her; it almost covered her entire back! A few strides to her right, Xera kept pace, hardly seeming to even jog. She was strong, so strong that the massive greatsword strapped to her back hardly slowed her. At the back of the group, struggling to not fall behind the faster hunters, ran Ryuhime. Her preferred weapon, the switchaxe, thudded lightly against her back, a familiar sensation as she fell farther and farther behind.

Eventually, Ulf called the group to a halt. Neither he nor Xera were breathing hard; they'd barely even broken a sweat. Nailah was taking long, slow breaths to control her panting. When Ryuhime caught up, she was forced to stop, put her hands on her knees, and just breathe. It took her several minutes to regain control of her breathing.

"I told you, you should've eaten before we left. But _no._" Xera mocked Ryuhime.

"I know, but I didn't have enough time." She said between pants. She finally managed to control her breathing. She continued, "You guys were in such a rush that I ran out of time."

"We all had enough time to eat." Ulf said. "What the hell were you doing?"

His belligerence frightened Ryuhime. She panicked so badly that she was unable to respond. Finally, on her third try, her voice rang out. "I-I had some last minute, um, shopping to do." She said lamely.

"Typical of a girl!" Ulf blurted, "When she should be busy preparing for battle, what's she do? Shop! Ow!" The last he exclaimed as Xera smacked his arm.

"Typical of a girl?" She said acidly, "And just what's that supposed to mean?" She smacked his arm again.

"Not you, you're not a girl," This time Xera aimed at his face. Ulf absently grabbed her wrist and stopped the attack cold. Calmly he said, "Not the face," And released her.

She brought her other hand in a backhand that thudded loudly against his chest, "And why am I not a girl? You should think carefully before you answer."

He answered immediately, "I only meant that you don't act girly. You act masculine whenever we go out hunting or a monster's involved. You're not very feminine, in case you didn't know," She smacked his arm again, "Not that it isn't a good thing. I never said it wasn't attractive. Ow." He said in anticipation of her next smack. It didn't come. He turned and cringed when he saw why she hadn't hit him. She'd been winding up a powerful hit with her greatsword. "This is really gonna hurt." He said solemnly.

She swept her blade sideways to smash the flat of it against his chest. He fell backwards and flipped over from the force of the blow. He converted the energy into a roll and came swiftly back to his feet. Nailah ran over to make sure his balance wouldn't waver. It didn't, but she used the excuse to stay close to him. Ryuhime moved slightly closer to Xera, silently lending her support. The team had divided into two separate groups; one backing Xera, the other in direct support of Ulf. How would they be able to defeat the poisonous iodrome without being a team? This comrade severance would be devastating to them.

Ulf stole the tension's power. He burst out into a deep belly laugh. His jubilance spread out in a wave as first Nailah, then Xera and finally Ryuhime fell into fits of giggling. _How had he managed that?_ Thought Ryuhime.

"Good hit," He groaned. He coughed for a few seconds; then he spat a wad of blood to the side. "Ugh. Really good hit." He rubbed his chest and motioned Nailah closer.

She immediately leapt to his side. He wrapped one of his immense arms around her waist and pulled her tight against him. She tilted her head up in time for him to pull her into a deep kiss.

Xera swaggered by and pretended to retch. She doubled over and gagged on air. Teasing them she said, "Again, no one wants to see you two being so _active._"

Ulf opened his eyes, looked over at her, and winked. She threw her hands up in exasperation, "You are bad," She declared.

Ryuhime sat and watched. As she watched Ulf and Nailah, her hand slowly rose to rest upon her lips. They burned; she wished she could do that to Xera. She couldn't though; Xera would never stand for it. In fact, Ryuhime couldn't remember a time Xera'd been interested in anybody, guy or girl, like _that._ She could feel her eyes begin to sting with tears. She swallowed her sobs and pushed back her tears. She couldn't appear weak right now. The whole group needed to be strong, even if she wasn't.

So she pushed her emotions deep inside and forced herself to stand erect. "Let's go," She said firmly. She glanced around quickly and ran off to the crest of a nearby hill. She squatted to examine what she had seen. Tracks. Large three-toed prints that looked somewhat avian in origin were sunk into the soft ground at the top of the hill. Some bird wyvern had passed through recently. Judging from the depth of the print, and the toe's relative thinness, it had to be a theropod. This was a stable environment, meaning that there were no other large monsters in the nearby area. That meant that the tracks must've come from the iodrome.

"What's up with her?" She heard Ulf ask Xera.

Xera shushed him and replied in a whisper, "She probably found something."

"I found something!" Ryuhime shouted to them. When they ran over to join her, she continued, "Tracks."

"So?" Ulf started. "Those are way too small. Isn't the iodrome the most deadly? Therefore the largest. Those look like a great jaggi's at most."

"Bigger isn't always better," Xera commented.

Nailah looked astonished as she asked, "It isn't?"

Everybody stared at her, Xera and Ryuhime in blank amazement, Ulf in smug satisfaction.

Ryuhime turned back to the tracks and knelt down to show him. She heard a slap as she pointed out the first indentation. Xera had slapped Ulf! Why? Ryuhime quirked an eyebrow at him.

He looked down at the ground sheepishly. He kept his eyes averted from the rest of the group, particularly Ryuhime. Why? _H-had he been checking her out?_ Xera was very protective of Ryuhime. And herself…

"Oh…" She mouthed silently. He must've been staring at Xera. Ryuhime's head dropped. Of course he'd been. Why would he have been looking at Ryuhime when Xera and Nailah were there? They were both so much more appealing than she was. Especially Xera.

Another smack and Xera whispered, her voice barely audible, "You see what you did? Now she's sad. Good going."

"Hey she's hot! I like looking at hot girls!" Ulf defended himself, his voice just as inaudible. Nailah pressed herself against him, "Don't worry love, you're still the hottest."

Unfortunately, Ryuhime didn't hear any of this exchange; the others had been too quiet. She was still wallowing in self-pity when the others focused on her. Her voice came out dull and monotone as she stated, "We're near a swamp, which is the only reason the track is even there. Also look at the width, each toe is too thin to belong to a great jaggi. Next to the track are small purple droplets. Only two possible theropods have poisonous spittle: an iodrome and the great furogi. The stride length also corresponds to both monsters. Iodrome tend to live in wetter areas," Nailah giggled at that. "And as such are used to uncertain ground. This means a shallower print. A great furogi's foot would've sunk almost entirely.

"Added to that," She continued, "Is the fact that we're in a stable environment. The guild examined the entire nearby area and determined that no other large monsters are near enough to cause danger or interfere."

"Okay, okay," Ulf said, holding his hands up in defense, "We get that you're smart, you don't need to rub it in our faces."

"And if you'd look around, you'd have seen the iodrome sunken in the swamp at the base of the hill." The whole group turned to look.

"I don't see it," Ulf said. The look on his face clearly showed his doubt. He didn't think she knew what she was talking about.

"Of course you don't. I said that it was sunken into the swamp. It's amphibious and needs to keep its skin moist." Nailah giggled again. Ryuhime reached into her pouch and pulled out a paintball. She tossed it downhill where it impacted against a nearly submerged rock. The paint splattered, and the rock burst up out of the swamp.

It was the iodrome.

"Told you," Xera said as Ulf readied his weapon. "She's always right. Smartest girl I know."

"Aim for the head and avoid getting bitten or spat upon. Remember that its saliva is poisonous and that it itself is extremely swift. There are two poison sacs on either side of its neck. Those and the crest on top of its head are the weakest points on its body. I recommend Xera to strike at the crest with me, while Nailah and Ulf focus on the throat sacs," Ryuhime planned their assault.

"Agreed," The other three chorused. They all charged at the iodrome.

Nailah halted midway down the hill, drew the bow from her back, and quickly touched an arrow to its string. She aimed and fired swiftly in the same motion. The iodrome leapt backward; her arrow came nowhere near to hitting it.

Ryuhime turned her head to shout at Nailah, "Wait until just before it lands to fire."

Nailah nodded once and fitted another arrow to string. As the iodrome's feet touched the ground, she released her hold on the arrow. The arrow pierced the skin just inches above the poison sac.

Ulf reached the iodrome seconds later and swept his blade in a horizomtal arc. Just as he attacked, the iodrome leapt backward.

Xera smashed her greatsword down at the iodrome's crest. At that moment though, the iodrome whirled and whipped its tail at her. Both attacks landed. Xera's strike cleaved through a section of the crest, sending it flying into the swamp. The iodrome's tail cracked like a whip against her skin, leaving a slender cut on her abdomen.

Ryuhime thrust forward with her switchaxe. She unleashed the assault attack and held the charge hard into the iodrome's side. The resulting eruption of power flipped the iodrome through the air.

As it touched back down to the ground, Ulf literally tore it apart with his sword working in a frenzy.

Ryuhime dropped her weapon and rushed over to Xera. Xera was having difficulty standing straight. Ulf wandered over and looked at her cautiously. "You okay there? Geez it's barely more than a scratch." Xera fell convulsing to the ground.

Ryuhime turned on him furiously. "No it isn't! I told you that the iodrome was amphibious, were you able to keep that in your head?" She was panicking now as she dug furiously through her pouch. "Well, if it runs out of liquids to soak its skin in, it makes them. It will coat itself with its saliva."

"So?" Ulf said.

"I also told you that its saliva is poisonous you dolt!" Finally she found what she was looking for, an antidote. She took it out, pulled the cork out, and poured it gently into Xera's mouth. A small amount caught on the edge of her lip and ran in a smooth stream down her chin.

Xera's pale skin began to color back in. She seemed to fall back in on herself and closed her eyes peacefully. She opened one and winked at Ulf. "I t-told you she was smart. And you said not to shop."

"Okay, fine, maybe it was a good idea," That was all the concession he was going to make.

Xera wrapped an arm around Ryuhime from where she lay in her lap. "Good dink," She whispered softly.

Ryuhime's body began to heat up and she felt a flush rush across her face. She ducked her head to hide it and stared down into Xera's serene expression. "Th-thanks," She managed to stutter.

Meanwhile, Ulf was busily readying the iodrome's corpse to be brought back to the guild's headquarters. He bled the thing out and loaded in up into the cart the guild supplied them with. Once finished, wandered over and enfolded Nailah in his embrace.

"H-hi," She said, surprised by his sudden display. "What was that for?"

"Nothing, let's go," Ulf said quickly. "Hey, _nobody wants to see you two being so _active_." _He had to throw that back into Xera's face.

Xera made a rude gesture toward him and rolled to her feet. Her balance wavered as she regained her feet, but she didn't fall. She reached back down and extended her hand for Ryuhime to take. Ryuhime hesitated for a moment, then swiftly, before her courage gave out, accepted the aid and hurriedly rose to her feet. Immediately she dropped Xera's hand.

"Let's get back home," She said weakly.


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't care if everybody else does it, i am not going to write a disclaimer saying i don't own Monster Hunter. I think that it's kinda obvious or i wouldn't be on __ for pete's sake, jeez do you really need to be told that? to those who don't, don't be offended, ok?**

* * *

Once they arrived back home, they found that they were amongst the first to arrive. A trio of felyne rushed out the door to collect the iodrome's corpse. Ulf swaggered up to the guild post to turn in the quest. After a bit of talking between him and the guild representative, he walked back over to them. He informed them of how they had done, "Well, since it was out final exam, we are unable to collect a reward for the hunt. _But _I did find out that we passed, apparently with full marks."

Xera and Nailah echoed his cheer. Ryuhime continued walking, past them into the chamber they had started the day in.

The room was now partitioned into a much smaller area. The teachers still stood up along the wall, but now the distance between them and the far wall was barely one-fifth of what it was. The enclosed area was filled with orderly, evenly spaced chairs, testament to the felynes' efforts. Nobody else was in the room yet.

Ryuhime walked into the room and took a seat in one of the back corners.

Lynn nudged Michael in his side, whispering, "Look who's the first to return."

There's a surprise," Michael responded, his voice heavy with sarcasm. "Who did she go with?"

"I believe it was Xera, Ulf, and his little pet Nailah," Lynn answered.

"Ah, that explains it."

"Explains what?"

"Ulf's a great hunter. I once watched him handle a congalala through sheer force of will." Michael's voice was filled with passion as he continued. "At the start of the fight, he threw his blade to the side. For two and a half hours they beat the hell outta each other."

"He killed it like that?" Lynn's eyes were wide in shock.

"Nope, but he could have. He beat it down into submission and then laughed at it." Michael shook his head, chuckling. "When I asked him about it, he said that he was just doing it. He hadn't accepted a quest and didn't want to report it, so he said that he wouldn't kill it. Perfectly calm the whole time, like it had been a kelbi or something, not a congalala. He's scary."

"I think Xera's scarier than that." Lynn argued. "Have you actually seen her hunt, when she's in her element? She's more like a monster than a person at that point. I interrupted her once, just a simple question, but her response was…unique. She wasn't angry or aggressive, she didn't yell or anything, she just…growled at me."

"Growled?"

"Like she herself was a monster. I swear, I thought for a minute that a monster had snuck up on us. She sounded, I don't know, ancient. Her growl was too deep to be anything I'd ever heard of."

Michael stared down at his missing hand. His response barely came out, so quiet that Lynn wasn't sure he'd even said it. "Trust me, you haven't heard them all. You've never gone after an elder."

"You okay there?' Lynn nudged Michael's shoulder.

"Her growl, Xera's, do you remember it? Details" Michael's tone was becoming wild, and still just as quiet.

"Uh, hey, are you okay? You're starting to scare me." Lynn shook Michael by the shoulders. "Snap out of it!"

Michael shook his head quickly to clear it. "S-sorry, lost in memories. Either way, a growl doesn't scare me as much as beating down a congalala."

Lynn gazed pensively at him for a heartbeat. "S-sure, yeah, I guess so." She turned to face Ryuhime, "I'm gonna go check on our joint prodigy."

"Okay," Michael was still staring off into the distance.

Lynn wasn't sure he'd even heard her. She moved away quickly, she didn't want to see into his head right now. She dragged one of the chairs to sit directly in front of Ryuhime. She reversed the chair and straddled it; the back of the chair now nestled between her legs. She rested her arms on the chair's back as she shouted, "Hey Ryu!"

Ryuhime jumped, almost falling out of her chair. "Um, hi."

Lynn leaned forward. "So…How was your first _real_ hunt?"

"Um, fine…how were things here?" Ryuhime responded. Lynn just stared at her. Ryuhime blushed and apologized, "S-sorry."

Lynn waved the apology away. "You're a hunter now, no apologies."

"Sorry."

Lynn smacked her palm against her forehead. "You're trouble. Okay, so your team, out of them, which one would seem to be the most prodigal, the best hunter? Who should be our champ?"

"Xera," Ryuhime answered immediately.

"Okay, distance yourself, remove yourself from the equation and now tell me."

"Xera." Ryuhime answered exactly the same as before.

Lynn nodded once and stood back up. "Okay." She swaggered back up to the front of the room. Once there she swatted Michael on the arm. "Hey, twenty on Xera."

"Twenty? Not really confident? Fifty on Ulf."

"As if, I was taking your funds into account. Don't want you freezing on me. One hundred on Xera."

"You couldn't stand me freezing, guess you could always prevent that. Two hundred Ulf."

"I could…We'll just have to see. I wager…me on Xera."

"Ouch," He hissed, "no fair."

"What's not?"

"I don't have anything to match that."

"Oh well, guess you wager you on your prodigy, and I'll wager me on mine. Whoever wins gets the other far a day, to do _anything_ they want to the other for the whole day. Like a birthday. Deal?" She held out her hand for him to shake.

"Heh, with stakes like that? Talk about unfair. How could I refuse? Deal." He held up his stump. "Remember?"

"Oops," Lynn leaned in and kissed him. His immense arms lifted and wrapped around her lithe form.

Around them the room was slowly beginning to fill. Already eight people were seated around the room, very few of them from the same team as another.

Ryuhime had steady drawn in on herself as the room filled. _Where were they? _Crossed her thoughts many times, thinking in reference to her absent teammates. She turned at the sound of the door opening. Ivan swaggered into the room. Ryuhime jolted, letting out a near-silent "Eep."

Near-silent or not, Ivan had heard it. His gaze centered immediately upon her. His mouth curled up into a smirk as he headed to a seat nearby her. He all but collapsed into the chair neighboring hers and commented, "Ryuhime, good to see you made it. You wouldn't believe how much I worried for you."

_Tsk, as if. _Ryuhime thought angrily. She thought but would never say. Outwardly she remained visibly steady, and frightened. Her hands were folded gently in her lap, but she chewed on her lip in terror.

Ivan continued, growing confident from her plight. "You know how much I care about you, and I know you care for me. Why do you deny yourself, what you really want?"

Once, his pleas would've done something to her. That was before Xera, before Ryuhime began to feel about Xera. Now they sounded as they were, the pathetic whines of an insecure child. She shifted her foot, nudging it against her weapon. A rusted, worn-out switchaxe that could barely stay sharp slicing butter, let alone a monster's scale-hardened flesh, but it was hers.

"Tell you what Ryuhime, I'll come to your house later, give you a second chance at _us_. See you tonight." He rose with a wicked grin on his face. He left quickly, before she could protest, saying only, "Don't forget, now that you're happy, you only have that much more to lose."

Ryuhime was shocked in silence. He couldn't have been threatening her, could he? _Xera._ The name tore through her like a firestorm. He was threatening Xera. Ryuhime's breath came in little gasps. She couldn't let anything happen to Xera, she was Xera! She couldn't even imagine what things would be like without Xera. Without her smile, without her taunts, without _her._ How would she live without Xera?

She wouldn't. Because nothing was going to happen to Xera. No matter what happened to Ryuhime, nothing was going to harm Xera.

Xera chose that moment to make her appearance. Not just walking through though, no, she made a large affair of it. Kicking the center of the double doors, just where the two doors made contact, she smashed both doors to the furthest extent of their hinges. The doors flew open, smacked with a huge crack against the walls nearest them. Every eye in the room turned toward her. Flanking her were Ulf and Nailah. Ulf and Xera both shared a confident, cocky stance, while Nailah was leaning against Ulf, adoring eyes turned up to stare at his. For almost a full minute, nobody moved; then both Xera and Ulf burst into a full-bodied laugh. That laughter spread to encompass the entire room. Even Ryuhime smiled a little. Then she had the scare of her life.

From directly behind her she heard, "Heh those two are special. You are fortunate to have such good friends, strong, charismatic, and definitely special. You should smile more Ryuhime, you look better like that."

Ryuhime whirled in her chair, looking to identify the unknown voice. There was nobody there. She shivered and looked around for a few seconds, but nobody was even looking at her, let alone close enough to have said that to her.

Her fore-tails were pulled hard, forcing her to turn back around to alleviate the pressure against them. "Ow, what was that for?" She complained loudly. As she turned back around, she was faced immediately with a thin wall of pale, soft skin. She blushed furiously. It was Xera's stomach! Scant inches in front _her!_ "Hi Xera."

"Hi, you missed our entrance." Xera said in a voice reminiscent of a petulant child.

"N-no I saw it!" Ryuhime blurted her response.

"You did? You were just looking everywhere except for the door."

"Y-yeah, well, someone said something that distracted me."

"Oh yeah? Who?" Her look turned dangerous. "Was it Ivan? Is he trying something with you again?"

"No!" Ryuhime blurted out. "It wasn't Ivan."

"Okay," Xera doubted Ryuhime's sincerity. Ryuhime was usually more in control of herself. "If you say so. Who was it then?"

"I don't know. Just some male voice, seemingly from nowhere."

"Alright," Xera's voice was calm, but her mind was racing. Ryuhime must've been lying, but why? Xera could only think of one reason, _Ivan threatened her_. Xera started planning methods to take revenge for Ryuhime, who would never dare. Extremely painful, potentially fatal methods.

"Is this all of them?" Ryuhime startled Xera from her dreams.

"What?"

"I said, is this all? Everybody who made it?" Ryuhime looked around her as she spoke.

Xera twisted to see who had come through the test. She gasped when she saw the sheer lack of people remaining. Of the forty-three who'd begun, only thirteen were left. "Maybe they're in the outer room?"

As it turned out, she was right. Two more students had been waiting out there, bringing the total to fifteen. Fifteen out of forty-three.

Michael stepped forward to address the students. "Well, hard to believe that so many of you were successful. This group is huge compared to last year's numbers. You guys made it, you did it. You conquered every trial, surpassed our expectations, and now it's time for your reward. Bring them out!"

A felyne ran out of one of the side doors, bearing a large tray over its head. The tray bore fourteen identical silver badges. Each of these was stamped with a "1." Also on the tray was a single gold badge, this marked by the number 2. Both Xera and Ulf were staring avariciously at that golden badge.

The felyne brought the tray up to where Michael stood. Next to him, Lynn was unrolling a slender scroll. Michael's voice echoed slightly as everybody fell silent. "As you all know, only one of you is eligible to become labeled as this year's champion. The champion is determined by a panel of judges, we teachers, as the masterful hunter through the challenges. He or she is recognized by our authority as the greatest hunter to be found in this year's group. In order to best recognize this prowess, last year's champion has returned to view the ceremony." He gestured behind him, to where a slender young man in rathalos and some other kind of armor was sitting.

The man stood up. He was a little above average height, and his body was slender. He wasn't huge or even really large. But the muscle that was showing, little though it was, was corded and hard, evidence of a hard-earned hunter rank. His helmet was off, remaining on the seat behind him. His hair was a dark, night-like color, wavy and cut short, barely covering his ears. His eyes were his most prominent feature though: Smoldering embers wrapping a violently back pupil. They entranced all who looked into them; even Ryuhime fell into the spell. He took a few steps forward and off to the side; then he gestured for Michael to continue.

Michael did as much, "Only one of you is eligible to become this year's champion. They showed courage, capability, and camaraderie. They best exemplified the ideals of the hunter, and they showed that they were more than capable in handling any challenge presented to them. This year's champion is…" His voice trailed off to a dramatic climax.

The entire room quieted, waiting for the moment of the big reveal. The suspense built until finally the champion was revealed to be…

"Ulf."

The room broke into applause. Loudest of those applause came from Nailah. Xera sat glumly, sulking in disappointment. Ryuhime clapped mildly, not wanting to offend either Xera or Ulf.

Ulf strode to the front of the room. Michael bestowed the golden badge to Ulf, who took it and swaggered back. He showed the badge off to Xera, gloating over his win. "Looks like you were wrong Xera. Good thing you didn't bet on it."

Up on the stage, Lynn smacked her palm against her forehead. Next to her, Michael stood chuckling. "See you at my place later, don't wear anything too fancy, won't be on for too long anyway." He turned and walked back to hand out the rest of the badges.

Xera sulked in the corner, refusing to accept the badge when her name was called.

Ryuhime went up to the stage to collect both of theirs. As she approached the stage she felt a tingling sensation roam her body. She twisted and saw two sets of eyes boring into her. Ivan's and the previous champion's. She shivered under the weight of both of those gazes. Why'd they have to stare at her?

She timidly stepped out of the sheltering crowd of students and approached Michael. After accepting both of the badges, she hurried to return to her seat. Xera snatched her badge out of Ryuhime's hands when she offered it. Pissed off or not, Xera still wanted to be a hunter.

After the badge-bestowing ceremony, Michael stepped back to let Lynn take command. Lynn was still looking pale, coming off of her loss, not that anybody in the room besides her and Michael knew about that. Her voice though, was strong and clear, a sign of absolute authority. "Now that everybody here has been given their award, the champion of last year, has a few words to say to everybody." She gestured for him to take center.

He did so; his voice was quiet, but filled with confidence. "You have all now attained the rank of hunter, good work. That's not enough though, a hunter is a hunter, they hunt monsters for the good it does and the money they need. The guild is always in dire straits though. They don't need more hunters; they need heroes, master hunters who can fell elder dragons. I was trying to fill that role with my allies. I stand here today because of those allies, they did not make it, I want to establish a new team, a fresh team, who aren't influenced yet by restraints. I need volunteers to join me. Who wishes to come?"

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**If you want to feel free to R&R, if you don't, it doesn't bother me. I do listen to suggestions as long as they're good ones. I may not use them in this story but i write alot and you may see it in one of my other ones. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry about the mix-up, i honestly have no idea what the hell happened. it should all be good now though. Grrrr. don't like chapter 4!**

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Xera's hand shot into the air, the first of many such to do so. The champion looked at her enthusiasm, impressed. He nodded to her, beckoning her to join him in the front of the room. She gaped for a moment, he was really accepting her? "Wow," She mouthed silently. She leapt to her feet and rushed to stand by his side.

He gazed out into the crowd, looking for one specific hand. But it never rose; Ryuhime was far too shy to single herself out that quickly. She didn't want to be left behind by Xera, but she couldn't single herself out to stand alone by them.

The champion turned and said, again in that quiet voice that echoed over the noise. "If any of you wish to join us, swing by my mansion on the outskirts of the village. I'm leaving tomorrow, even if I only have one person joining me."

Xera looked undecided now. She wanted to go, he was a champion! She'd be stupid not to want to. But Ryuhime hadn't volunteered, maybe she didn't like him? Xera couldn't just abandon her, leave her vulnerable to Ivan? No way, if Ryuhime wasn't going, then neither was she. No question about it.

She continued debating with herself while following the champ. They exited the _school_ and headed to the edge of the village. "Where are we going?" Xera asked.

"My old home," His voice sounded like the wind through trees. But there was no wind; the trees stood motionless in the still air.

"Oh," Xera mouthed. His silence, and the silence of the forest around her, was intimidating. Maybe it hadn't been a good idea to join him; he was scary. "Why do you live so far from the village?"

While the silence ruled, they had exited the village. Several minutes had passed and Xera hadn't seen any signs of civilization. His voice cut the silence like a blade. "I have a low tolerance for groups of people. I tend to avoid contact almost entirely."

"Oh sorry," Xera apologized for intruding on his solitude.

"You're fine; I said 'groups' of people." The champion forgave her. "You'll spend the night at my manor ok? This way you can help me screen the recruits. You know this generation of hunters better than I. And there are definitely a horde more than in my year. My year, we only had three graduates: me and two of my friends."

"Oh, um, ok," Xera's confidence was being shaken. "Were they the ones you said needed to be replaced?" She flushed when she realized what she'd asked. "Sorry!"

"Don't be," He chuckled softly as her face changed colors. "No, they haven't died, at least, not to my knowledge. I doubt any monster could kill them; one's too good, the other's too stupid to die. Do you need to go get anything, or let your family know?"

"N-no, I have my blade. What else would I have? And um…yeah I'm fine," Why was she stuttering? She never stuttered!

"Oh, sorry," The champion stared directly ahead, ashamed at bringing up painful memories for the girl.

"Not your fault. Anyway, where's this house of yours?"

He pointed directly up above them. Standing at the summit of a craggy mountain was an immense mansion - no, mansion was an understatement. _It was a freaking CASTLE! _Xera stopped and gaped at it for several seconds, unable to do or say anything in awe of the impressive sight.

The champion cleared his throat to get her attention. "This way if you please?" He gestured to a barely visible pathway leading up the nearly sheer cliff face.

"How do you expect all the volunteers to be able to find the path?" Xera inquired.

"I don't. The path is a winnowing method. If they can't find the path, why would I want them coming with me?" He headed out of the forest, stepping between two large trees into a larger courtyard. She followed slowly after him. The courtyard was flanked by several enormous statues. On one side of the gate to enter the property was an immense statue resembling an elder dragon, the alatreon. The other side had an even larger statue depicting the great jhen mohran midway through an attack.

Xera was amazed and fascinated with the dual elder dragon statues. She wandered over to the jhen statue. It was huge! Her entire height, almost six-feet, wasn't even comparable to one of the blunt claws on its forward fins. She turned toward its owner. "They aren't really that big, are they?"

"Oh no, of course not!" He said happily. Xera breathed in relief. "This is a miniature model of one of the small ones I've hunted!"

The blood drained from Xera's face. _Miniature? Small?_ The thing was larger than anything she'd ever seen before today! Except for the castle, she hadn't even seen houses larger than the _statue, _and here he was saying that the monster was even _larger?_

"You're serious?" She asked incredulously.

"Oh yeah, same with this one over here," The champion gestured over at the alatreon statue. "He's modeled after a really nasty one I met a while back. Left me with a pretty brutal scar." He chuckled as he rubbed his shoulder.

Xera stared at him. "You're kidding right?"

He burst out laughing again. Xera sighed in relief. "Of course not!" Xera stiffened. "Why do you think they're called _elder_ dragons? And these don't even compare to a lao-shen or even a shen gaoren. Don't worry though; I won't take you hunting one of those for a long time yet. And when I do, I'll make sure to protect you. He motioned her closer. "It's been awhile since I've been home; I'm sorry if the place is a pigsty."

Xera stared at him like he was a stranger. _What happened to the supremely melodramatic champion he'd been back in the village?_

They climbed the steps leading to the immense arch of the building's double doors. On the final step, the champion's feet slipped and he fell, sprawling across the top of the stairs. "Ow," He complained slowly.

Xera continued walking, stepping gingerly around him. _Time to see what kind of team I just joined_. She leaned down over his prone form. "And _you're _supposed to protect _me?_" She walked to the doors and opened them smoothly, on exquisitely oiled hinges.

"Ouch, why don't you just kick my pride while you're at it?" He complained as he stood up. "Ow, that hurt by the way, but I'm fine, thanks for asking."

"You wouldn't be much of a champion if a fall of one stair took you out. Besides you're still in your cool armor."

"Don't you mean smoking hot and awesome armor?" He puffed his chest out to present her with a better view.

"No."

He sank back and his head dropped. "Oh…" He brightened back up remarkably swiftly. "But anyway, I'm fine, you're fine and you need armor!"

Xera was shocked back by his declaration. "What?"

"First thing we gotta do, get you armor! I'm not gonna be able to handle it with you running around in _that_ for the whole world to see." He gestured at her body. She was barely clad in a simple wrapping around both of her private areas.

"What's wrong with this?" She asked as she spun slowly in a circle.

The champion coughed into his hand. "You realize that where we're going, you're nobody? To everybody you meet, you are just another hunter girl who's completely unremarkable. They will see you and see a victim they can exploit for what she's so blatantly putting on display. That and I wouldn't be able to focus very well. Too good a distraction."

Xera slugged his arm. "And what's that supposed to mean?'

"You would be very distracting on a quest. In your very tight, very revealing clothing. Undergarments. Bikini. Whatever you want to call it."

Xera slugged his arm again. "Well, you shouldn't be looking!" She blushed to think that a person like last year's champion would check her out. She wasn't interested in him of course, but he _was _a champion.

"First thing we do when we get to the city is to get y'all who come along armor. Sound like a plan?"

Xera nodded once, still blushing a little.

Ryuhime stood alone in the small cottage she was allowed to use as a home. A single dresser and a small mat were the only furnishings. The dresser was barely used. No makeup, no ornaments, no accessories, barely any scrap of clothing. She lived simply, spartanly. The sleeping mat wasn't very comfortable, but it _was _better than sleeping on the ground. She had no need of much, a shelter, food, that was all. She barely lived, but she _did_ live. At least she used to live like that.

But if Xera left, Ryuhime was absolutely certain that she wouldn't live. Xera was more important than any of her other necessities. There was only one option, Ryuhime would have to betray herself and _volunteer_ to join them. She took a deep breath to steady herself. She turned to exit her house and watched as her door handle twisted sharply to the left. Her blood froze.

_Who would come to her house? _It was well-known around the village how much she valued her privacy. Only Xera had free reign to come and go as she pleased. She preferred to have absolutely no outside contact whatsoever. So that left the question, _who was this?_

Her breath started coming in gasps. _Ivan_. He said that he would be coming later that night. She'd forgotten in the rush of the ceremony. What was she going to do? She couldn't refuse him, he'd hurt Xera if she did. But she didn't want to do what he did. And she had no doubt in her mind about what _he_ wanted to do.

The door opened slowly. To her, it seemed as if the door would never open. a lifetime passed in that single second. Her knees had hours to shake and her body an eternity to quiver. Finally, the door was opened and Ivan stood before her. A wide grin was plastered across his face.

"Ryu-hi-me," He drawled her name out. "Can you stay in and play?" He forced himself into her house.

"Um…I was actually just about to…um…leave…" She protested his advances weakly.

"Nonsense!" He shouted at her. She flinched at his raised voice. "You and I have quite an evening planned. Let's see how the evening turns out, shall we?"

He rushed toward her, shoulder lowered, and pressed her back to fall onto her sleeping mat. His eyes roamed over her supine body. "Well, well, well, looking nice tonight Ryu."

_Don't call me that! _Ryuhime shouted at him in her mind. She wanted to shout it at him, but her body was paralyzed in fright. _He couldn't-wouldn't-actually do anything, would he?_

He pointed his lance at her-_had he had that the whole time? How had she not noticed?_ Her mind raced. _What was he going to do? Kill her? No! _She argued. He wanted her more than killing her, he'd take her first. Strangely, that thought didn't reassure her any.

He extended his reach so that barely a foot separated the lance's tip and her chest. "Don't move," He cautioned. He continued forward and slipped the metal beneath the cloth wrap around her breasts. She shivered at the feel of the metal-it was like ice against her adrenaline fueled body. He lifted the lance, slowly, almost tenderly. The cloth parted just as slowly, resisting as best as it could. But the steel was far too powerful for her clothes to prevent his will from being carried out. _Move!_ She screamed at her limbs, hoping for a reaction that would allow her to stop him.

Nothing moved. Her top tore audibly, the tearing noise loud in the near-silence of the room. Ivan's eyes locked onto her breasts as his breathing grew ragged. Ryuhime was disgusted. He was actually growing more aroused by her refusal. He wanted it, _he wanted to rape her! _She was terrified into motionless.

Ivan's weapon lowered to rest between her legs. "Your choice Ryu. Either you can take them off, or I can."

Ryuhime shivered at both implications. She stood, balance wavering in her fright, and slid her thumbs under the band around her waist. Ivan smiled when he saw that she was going to be obedient. While she stood torn between her options, he took the opportunity to be rid of his own clothes.

It took mere moments before he was standing before her naked. Ryuhime was still torn and Ivan was growing impatient. He jabbed his lance toward her. "Either you remove them _now, _safely, or I can remove them as I please. Choose."

Ryuhime's knees buckled. _Why was he forcing the issue on her now? Why her in the first place? _She couldn't take this. Not in the least. She fell back onto the mat and pushed herself as far away from him as possible.

Ivan, of course, took this to mean that she wanted _him_ to remove the remainders of her clothes. He moved toward her, dropping his weapon by the foot of the bed. _Out of her reach…_ If only he had dropped it closer to her, then she could've used it to threaten him, keep him away. She backed still farther, hands behind her reaching desperately for any means of protecting herself from his advances.

_What?_ Her hands fell on a long, solid object. Her weapon! She left it by the head of her bed every time she came home. She'd started doing it when she was little, so the blade would keep away the monsters in her sleep and had never grown out of the habit. _Good thing too._ Her switchaxe might help her fight away a real live monster in her room. Her hand grasped the hilt of the weapon firmly and her arm muscles tightened in anticipation.

Ivan noticed it when her body turned from ragdoll limp, to psuedowyvern tension immediately. He backed slightly, wanting to assess the situation, but not wanting to give her an opportunity to escape.

So he was perfectly within range as Ryuhime swung the weapon in a broad arc. The back of the blade slammed solidly into his temple. He flipped to the side, crying out in agony. Her next move, however, caused him to cry out even more shrilly. She reversed its momentum and twisted it to fall straight back down. Ivan's eyes widened as he realized that he was now in the same position that he had her in just a little while ago. Except_ his_ legs were spread wide from his earlier roll. The weapon slammed into him with an immense crack as his pelvis was obliterated.

Ivan curled up around his only friend and sobbed weakly to himself.

Meanwhile, Ryuhime was staring at the weapon in her hands. What had she done? She'd deliberately injured another human being. The fact that he had been trying to harm her first had no bearing on her thoughts; all she knew was that he was harmed, and it had been her fault. She felt sick at the pride she found herself filled with. She'd defended herself for once! Her! She had protected herself, her own honor! Her own chastity! She hadn't relied on someone else, she'd done it herself!

Now she was in a huge amount of trouble. Whatever her reasoning, it was illegal to harm another human with a hunter's weapon. Even a playful tap could be hazardous due to the sheer scale of the monster slaying tools. When Ivan recovered he could just go to anybody outside the cabin and say that she's assaulted him with her axe. Nobody would inquire why he was in her cabin in the first place. They'd only care about her assailing him with her weapon. Her eyes roamed wildly over the spartan room.

She couldn't let him go and tell everybody. Then she'd be taken away and locked up, while Xera went to the city with her new ally. But she couldn't just kill him. That went beyond her. She knew that she definitely couldn't stomach a cold-blooded murder of another human being._ But he was threatening to hurt Xera. _A small voice in her thoughts said. That was right, he had. Maybe she could. He eyes roamed the room again, this time looking in more depth, searching every detail.

Finally she found something. Next to Ivan's clothes lay his pack. Sticking out the single flap was the neck of a bottle. She walked over to it. As she had thought, he'd brought a bottle of something to drink after his conquest. She placed the bottle gently on the sleeping mat and headed to the dresser. From her dresser she chose a-whole-nother outfit, this time one of her favorites, her purple one. Good thing she hadn't worn that one today, choosing instead a uniform that she'd always considered lucky. As she changed, she kept an eye on Ivan. While he _was_ trying to crawl to the door, he wasn't making much progress. If that was how much it hurt when a guy got hit there, Ryuhime was happy she'd been born female. She threw her torn top on the bed with the bottle and picked up her shorts. She kicked Ivan in the side and straddled his stomach when he was forced to turn. "Open wide," She said in a sing-song voice. "You wanted to do this for so long, it's the least I can do."

When he opened his mouth to protest she pressed the material between his lips, pulling and wrapping it quickly, and tightly, around his head. He continued struggling, actually clawing at her as he tried to escape, but between his agony, and the leverage she had from sitting on him, he had no chance. She still stood up, afraid that he would now tear her favorite clothing. She picked up the bottle and her torn top and turned back to him. She pulled the cork from the bottle with her teeth and tipped it toward him.

"You must be thirsty. I want to thank you Ivan. You proved to me that sometimes an idiot is exactly what you need to be yourself." Ivan tilted his head, clearly confused, but Ryuhime didn't elaborate. She pushed the bottle up to Ivan's lips and tipped a good portion through the cloth. Ivan choked and spat most of it back out…onto himself.

Ryuhime stood back up and pushed one of the torn edges of her top into the bottle. She lit the other end in the fire she had continually stoked to ward away the cold. Once it was lit, and stayed lit, she walked outside. All she had with her were the clothes she was wearing, her small, almost empty pouch, and her switchaxe of course. And the bottle…

Ivan glared at her as she walked out of the doorframe. In his eyes she could see that he knew what she had planned for him, and he was terrified. _Good,_ She thought, _Let him have a taste of what he subjected everyone else to._

Once she was a good distance away, she turned and hurled the bottle with all of her might. Lithe though she was, she still used the massive switchaxe, and that had built up an impressive amount of muscle in her arms. The bottle soared and flew straight through the thin thatch roof. The house ignited swiftly with a loud, crackling roar. Just loud enough to cover Ivan's muffled screams.

But Ryuhime could neither see nor hear any of it. She'd already set off at a run to join Xera and the champion at his manor…


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry about this. TIny chapter...Anyway, it took me a long time to update this chapter, i wonder if anything's wrong? That's what you're wondering, come on, admit it...No, really? Well fine, see if i wonder if you're alright then...lol jkjk geez, don't get so defensive it was only a joke... this is a short chapter because...well, because it is...it took me so long to update because... well it did any questions? I actually started a new story and wanted to get some chapters posted for that one as well, plus i found my drumsticks for rockband, and decided to play more pokemon, i love my arcanine! Yay! fluffy puppy!**

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Ryuhime ran right by the hidden path. It was several minutes before she realized that she must've missed the turn to his house. She turned around, this time travelling slower. She went by again, noting every potential turn toward the direction of his house. On impulse, she also noted all of them facing away.

Between the twelve that seemed obvious after scrutiny, she discounted four that were far too large on the basis that a monster hunting champion would provide a challenge to his allies. Three others were out due to their sheer lack of size. That left five options. Four of them faced toward the direction of his house, one faced the opposite way.

Again on impulse, she decided to follow the route facing away. The route took her on an immense half hour detour that ended with her a dozen feet from the start of the trail. Obviously, impulse was not her forte. This time, she went about it intellectually.

Four paths, all potentially leading to his abode. Only one was right though. _So, which one?_ She picked a path at random.

The one she chose was obviously well-traveled. Footprints, broken twigs, etc. Not the right path

Her next choice was nearly pristine. Bare traces of passage, hardly noticible, marred the virginity of the trail. This looked like a path that hadn't been taken in ages.

So of course it stood to reason that this was the path they took. She followed along the trail for about a mile. Just when she was ready to turn back and try another path, she came into a clearing.

Flanking an immense gate leading to an even larger castle were two scaled depictions of an alatreon and a jhen mohran. She analyzed the statues. They were really well made, except for a few slight errors that were more a matter of proportion than anything else.

She bypassed the statues after her brief examination. They weren't that important, what was important was getting to the group before the party filled up. It would be terrible if she went through everything and it turned out that there were too many people for her to join the champion and Xera.

She slowed to a halt just outside the door. _It had been what? Three hours since he had made the offer? Crap, _she thought rationally. If everybody wanted to go questing with the champion, chances were likely that at least two people made it through to join him hunting…

She couldn't attempt going. The party would already be full and she would just be humiliating herself by trying to join them at this point…

She turned to leave. She couldn't even go back home and cry in her house. She didn't even have a house anymore. Tears fell down her cheeks as she stood there. She'd lost everything because she had been afraid earlier.

Her fear had stopped her from joining the group earlier when he had first offered. If she had joined then, she wouldn't have been at her house when Ivan came, and then her house wouldn't have been burned down. And most important of all, she wouldn't be left behind when Xera went and hunted with her new team…

She couldn't even move anymore. Her muscles had locked into place. She stood there, just outside of the champion's door, crying.

Xera sat on one of the huge couches in his house. It was so large that she felt like she was being eaten by a monster. The thing was engulfing her!

She struggled up to the surface and reached for the drink the champion had left for her. She took a dainty sip, wondering what type of drink he'd offer. Her eyes widened when she tasted it.

Sake? And a really potent one at that.

"Hey Xera!" He shouted to her.

"What?" Her voice sounded muffled by the cushions on the couch.

"Could you do me a favor? I'm low on sake and busy cooking dinner for you, could you run down to the village and ask the elder for another couple bottles from my stores?"

Xera nodded, feeling foolish afterward. Of course he couldn't see her nod. "Sure no problem!" She stood and headed toward the door. "Anything else you want?" She said as she pulled the door wide.

Her mouth dropped open as she saw who was standing there. She was unable to respond for a few seconds until, from the kitchen, she heard, "Well, invite our guest in!"

Xera shook her head to clear it and tugged Ryuhime into the house. Xera pulled her into a hug. "Yay! You decided to come with us?"

Ryuhime blushed at the feel of Xera's body pressed up against her own. She stuttered in her response. "Um, y-you don't have too m-many? I-I mean, I will, b-but aren't there too many people?"

The champion walked into the room at that moment. He burst out laughing again, saying breathlessly, "Ha, as if! So far, it's just the three of us."

Xera started, "Oh yeah, I'll be right back Ryuhime, I gotta go get something for dinner."

The champion stopped her, "Never mind that, turns out I had a couple more bottles." He pulled his hands out from behind his back. He had two bottles grasped in each of his hands. "Just wasn't looking in the right spot."

Xera's eyes narrowed, but she didn't care. Her Ryuhime was here to quest with them. "So when are we going to go to the city?"

"Tomorrow! Tonight, I have a feast prepared for you two! It's been so long since I've had people here that I might have gone a little overboard, but so what? This may be the last good meal you get to eat for a while, so enjoy. Eat and drink as much as you want, cause tomorrow I'm gonna work you ragged! Both of you will also spend the night in my mansion, okay?"

"Um, sure," Xera's thoughts were flying; she only heard about half of what he'd said.

Ryuhime silently heaved a sigh of relief. She wouldn't be sleeping on the ground! Out loud she only nodded at the champion.

"Let's eat!" He shouted as he led the way into the kitchen.

As Xera and Ryuhime walked into the room, their mouths dropped open. "A little overboard?" Xera inquired.

"What?" He protested.

His version of a little overboard turned out to be a hell of a lot overboard. He had at least a dozen steaks prepared and laid on the table. In addition to the meat were easily several pounds of potatoes and other vegetable goodies. On another table to the side were at least a hundred different types of desserts. In the center of the table were eight more bottles of sake, in addition to the four he had with him.

Xera's stomach rumbled audibly. She blushed and looked at the other two. "What? I'm hungry!" She defended herself.

"Then eat!" The champion declared.

Ryuhime barely finished one steak. She did however, drink two entire bottles of sake by herself. At the end of the meal, her face had a nice flush to it. Her thoughts kept on drifting back to what she'd done to Ivan. He may have deserved it, he deserved far worse than what she'd done, but she'd actually killed him! He was dead now because of her actions.

She kept the sake bottle close to her.

Xera ate like a deviljho. The steaks, all of them, were all gone. And the host of the meal had only eaten three. She barely touched the vegetables though.

"Whoo!" The champion stood up. "I propose a toast. To our new team! Here's to you, Ryuhime, Xera!" He gulped down his drink.

Xera stood up as well. "And to you, who hasn't named himself yet!" She drank hers too. Ryuhime took a swig direct from the bottle she had cradled in her arms.

The champion stopped. "I never told you my name? Nobody told you my name? Dang, I have been gone long…It used to be that my name was on everybody's lips. Well, I'll tell you now. My name is Elric…let's get back to the party now!"

Later that night, they lay in the living room, all of them lying in their own drunken stupor. Ryuhime lay there contemplating her actions of the day, wallowing in pity for herself. If anybody found out what she'd done, she'd be lucky if they only banned her from hunting.

Xera lay happily nearby. Her thoughts were all pleasant. She'd joined with a champion group, her Ryuhime was still with her, and she had finally eaten enough to actually fill her for once.

Elric lay thinking his own thoughts. He was thinking about what would be happening when he took those two hunting. They would either be a great group, or they would die on the first elder they fought. It was up to them. He would do everything he could to insure they survived as best he could, but not even he, despite the rumors, was invincible. He hoped everything would turn out well.

They lay like that for several hours, thinking and drinking to the conclusion of their festivities. And then, one by one, they passed into unconsciousness…

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**Read and Review if you want! I love when people review, it's like a present several months away from christmas! Easter presents? Sure why not? This chapter is your easter present from me. (explains why it's so small nobody ever gives anything good for easter...)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry it took so long. I can hear Xera yelling at me because i forgot her...I didn't forget i didn't, owowowow stop hitting me, jeez, hehe kidding in case you couldn't tell. Xera's too sweet to hit anybody, even if she has a hard time expressing it.  
****Ryuhime might, she's scary...but too smart for her own good...it's kinda depressing how smart she is...i just hope i don't piss her off so bad she decides to recreate Ivan's punishment on me...yeesh, i just made myself breat out into a sweat... well, enjoy the story everybody!**

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Ryuhime woke up first. She was startled at the sound of clinking glass. _What had happened?_ She wondered.

She looked around, she didn't recognize the building she was in. she couldn't even think of where she had gone-she couldn't think at all right now; her head hurt too much.

The room she was in was littered with empty bottles. There were four of them right by her; she didn't think she could readily count how many were lying around the room.

Somewhere, deep in her mind, she recognized that she was suffering from a temporary case of specific-topic amnesia. She couldn't remember a single thing about the day before.

She wasn't worried. It wasn't too dangerous in origin; she knew that her memory would be restored in time, probably in unison with some sort of outside stimulus.

_Ugh, what the hell _had _happened? _Her head hurt too much for that type of contemplation.

She took a deep breath. _Okay Hime, _She called herself by her favorite nickname, _Think for a minute. Where the hell are you?_

She started again when she heard a deep, male cough. _Who the hell was that? Why the hell was she waking up, hung-over, in the same place as some guy? While she was only wearing her underarmor?_

Then she heard Xera moan in her sleep.

Ryuhime's eyes snapped open, it all came flooding back in a rush. She remembered everything about the day before. She remember her fear as she searched for the champion-Elric's-house. Her body warmed deliciously as she felt Xera's hug anew.

Then she froze; her blood turned to ice in her veins. She remembered Ivan. The events leading up to her attempted rape, and her subsequent escape. Her beating of him with her weapon, and then the murder. His terror as she subjected him to the burning of her house.

She felt the warmth of the fire as she held the flaming bottle to throw it. She heard Ivan's terrified screams, something she had never actually experienced.

Her imagination was terrifying her by creating horrors that had never happened. She recognized this, but it did nothing to lessen her fears about it.

She had killed someone! Her! She didn't even like killing monsters!

Now _she_ was a monster. She hadn't even hesitated in the murder; once she had chosen to kill him, she never even thought of turning back.

Oh God! She'd actually enjoyed killing him at the end! The rush of power, the feeling of revenge for everybody who'd be forced into doing something by him, it was like a drug. She would do it again in a heartbeat; wouldn't that make her a monster? Being willing to kill someone again?

Not that she planned on taking another life, but she'd do the same to Ivan no matter how many chances he'd been given. She was a _monster_! She had killed another hunter!

Her stomach rolled. She rolled her body with it so that she was lying on her side. When she vomited, she didn't want to drown in it. And she _was_ going to vomit; she already knew it.

She heard Xera move again, just as her stomach gave another heave. She didn't have a chance to stop it; she emptied her stomach onto Elric's floor.

Xera snapped awake instantly, rolling on her back into a crouch on all four even before she came awake. She looked around the room blearily, with glassy eyes for the source of the commotion.

_There!_ She saw Ryuhime lying on her side, vomiting and writhing in agony. Xera threw herself at Ryu.

"Ryu!" She shouted. "Ryu, what's wrong?" She pulled Ryuhime over, so her mouth clear from the force of gravity, if nothing else.

Ryuhime spat to clear her mouth. She tried to speak through the acid in her throat. "N-nothing. I just…had too much to drink." She didn't like lying to Xera, but she couldn't Xera the truth; Xera would be disgusted and hate Ryuhime if she knew the truth. Ryuhime couldn't live if Xera hated her. And it wasn't exactly a lie. She had had too much to drink.

If it wasn't lying, then why did she feel so guilty about it?

Xera wasn't convinced; she knew Ryuhime. She couldn't hold her drinks; she'd become tipsy after only a couple, but she was never sick or hungover the day after. _Never._ Something was wrong. But for now Xera determined that she would act like she believed it. She'd confront her later.

She heard Elric stand. Reacting protectively, she threw an arm around Ryuhime and pulled her tight against her body. A deep, low, echoing growl resonated from her.

Elric slowed. He'd fought elder dragons before; he'd heard plenty of growls and roars. The one he was hearing right now was scary, scarier than any other he'd heard before. Scarier because it was monstrous, but it came from such a young hunter girl.

_God!_ He loved hunters! This new team would be interesting to say the least. Two prodigies, one a genius, the other quite literally a monster…and himself of course…

He walked out into a shaft of light flowing through the window.

Xera started when she could see him clearly. Why was this male in the same area that she and Ryuhime were sleeping?

She shook her head to clear the lingering grogginess and it all came back to her.

Elric moved forward toward the pair. Xera reluctantly released Ryuhime but kept her head cradled securely in her lap.

Elric held a bottle gently in his hands. He spoke softly, his rhythm soothing, "I have something to help her. this is only a mild sedative. I crushed sleep herbs and mixed it with crushed parashrooms. Then it was diluted with plain water," He took a small sip to show her it was safe, "See? No danger."

Xera didn't trust it. But Ryuhime touched her arm. Xera looked down at her.

"It's okay Xera." Ryuhime nodded. "Muscle relaxant."

Honestly, Xera wasn't even listening to what Ryuhime was saying. She had absolutely no idea what she or Elric were talking about, or for that matter even the actual words. All she knew was that Ryu was hurt and she was going to kill anybody who tried to harm her anymore.

But, Ryu's voice cut through the fog clouding Xera's mind. If Ryu said that it was safe, Xera would listen. Ryu knew what she was talking about, even if she was actually drunk.

Xera barely moved, but it was enough for Elric to be able to come close enough to pour some of the liquid into her mouth.

As the fluid touched her tongue, she immediately let out a blissful sigh. Her body slumped in Xera's arms. For a moment she feared for Ryu, but then she saw the steady rise and fall of Ryuhime's generous chest. She'd drifted off into sleep!

Xera gently laid Ryuhime down onto the floor. She then backed away to let her sleep in peace.

Elric beckoned her to follow him into the kitchen. She glanced down at Ryuhime and reluctantly followed.

"Thank you," She said to him.

"For what?" He replied, "Helping an ally? You'd have done the same if you had the resources."

"No way," She argued, shaking her head and causing her hair to flair wildly around her. "Even if I had the stuff, I would never have thought of using them like that. I'm not that smart. Give me a sword, I'll ace anything; as far as support and thought go…well there's a reason I almost failed the hunter's written exam…" She stared down at her boots.

"Bah, you think you're bad? I barely got by. I was only like eight points from failing. And then they crown me champion, go figure."

"I _was_ going to be crowned champion," Xera said sadly. "Then stupid Ulf had to get that honor. Stupid iodrome, if that hadn't injured me, I would be the champion, not him."

Elric chuckled, "Well, the important thing is that you know who the real champion is right?"

"Yeah, I guess so…"Xera pointed at him, "You."

"As if," Elric scoffed. "I told you, they made a mistake and my class was very small as far as graduates were concerned. They needed _somebody_ to be the champion, so they chose me mistakenly."

"And the statues of your kills?"

"They were nothing, remember? I told you they were only tiny ones."

"Tiny ones larger than my house," Xera muttered.

"Are you jealous?"

"Of what?"

"The fact that I've hunted those elders down and you haven't."

"As if." She quoted him.

"If you say so," He was taunting her.

She knew this, but she'd never been very good at letting people get away with taunting her.

"I could take one of them by myself!" She declared.

"Why haven't you yet then?"

She looked down shyly. "Be-ca-us-e," She drew the word out into four syllables to buy time for her to come up with a reason, "the guild won't let me."

"R-i-i-ght," He drew his response out to match the length of hers. "Well, we'll soon remedy that. Your rank will start soaring once we really get to business hunting."

"It'd better. I can't stand having Ulf higher than me."

"Well I'll make sure you rise above him soon enough. Anybody else you want to beat?"

"Just the elder dragons."

"As long as you aren't ambitious or anything…" He chuckled.

They continue to sit and joke until well after the sun had risen…

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**Thank you for reading, feel free to comment and suggest subject material. like if you want to recommend a monster for them to hunt, go ahead, or plot twists, i don't really have a plot for this, i'm pretty much making it up as i go, i do have a monster list, everything from akantor to yama tsukami (A-Y) because for some reason there are no monsters beginning with a Z, **

**wtvr it doesn't bother me any, nope not one bit...Dammit! I like symmetry! Why can't every letter have at least one monster! Xera growl...**


	7. Chapter 7

**Here's the next chapter, I know it's been a long time, but I joined some new RPs and have playing them fervently. I'm already behind in them. Plus i still have homework**

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When Ryuhime finally walked into the kitchen after resting enough to be able to, she found Xera and Elric sitting down to a nice breakfast. They had even cooked enough, and set a place, for her.

She walked into the kitchen shyly. Elric and Xera shared a quick glance and then burst out laughing. Ryuhime immediately took a step back. What had she done? Why were they laughing at her? She became instantly paranoid, sure that they were mocking her.

Xera calmed down fast, especially when she was seeing how disconcerted they were making Ryu. "What's wrong?" She asked gently.

Elric coughed to cover his amusement. "Maybe she's still sick? We'll put our journey on hold until she recovers. It's not like we're in any hurry for an airship or anything."

Ryuhime looked concerned. "But don't they only go to the City once in a long while? I thought that it was hard enough to get even one to travel there anytime? Don't they have to go through dangerous routes to get there?"

"Well, for the most part they do. But I got a special blimp to take us. It's um…" His face turned red. Xera and Ryuhime both giggled, the infamous (not sure about word choice, technically he _is _famous for killing so I'll roll with it.) champion Elric was embarrassed. "Shut up," He laughed as well, unable to keep a stern face while the two girls were laughing at him. "Okay, the thing is, um, the airship we'll be taking it's, uh, mine…"

Both of the girls were shocked. _Having your own airship? Why not just tell them he had a pet deviljho in his basement? _

"So um, yeah, it's no problem if we have to post-pone a little bit. What do you think?" Elric looked really concerned about Ryuhime.

Xera did too. "If she is sick, we shouldn't move her, right? Aren't you not supposed to do that? Something about introducing new ills to the one she's already got?" Xera tried to remember what Ryuhime had told her last time she'd been sick. She looked at Ryu to confirm the accuracy of what she said.

Ryu thought for a moment, if she told Xera that it was wrong, Xera would have them move on to the City. But if she agreed, Xera'd make them stay. Ryuhime didn't want to stay, if she stayed, she was sure that the nightmares about Ivan would keep recurring and torment her.

The decision wasn't too hard for her to make; she'd already lied to Xera once today, she didn't want to have to do it twice, _ever_. "If you move a sick person, there is a higher chance of them coming down with a secondary illness. But I'm _not_ sick, so we don't have to post-pone anything."

"Are you sure? It really isn't any trouble."

Ryuhime was adamant, so much so that her stalwart refusal to stay set off some triggers in Xera's head. Ryuhime was _never_ adamant. In fact, of anything, that was the one word Xera had been sure she'd never be able to apply to Ryuhime.

It appeared that she'd been wrong. That wasn't something new, Xera was used to being wrong, but she'd _never_ been wrong about Ryuhime. _That_ distressed her, Ryuhime couldn't change, Xera needed something to remain constant, and since she didn't have any other _real_ associates among her other hunters.

There was Ulf and Nailah of course, but they were so wrapped up in each other that she could smash their heads together and they would only see the other rushing closer.

Ryuhime couldn't change, Xera had problems with change. Xera had a bad history with change. First had been her parents, claiming that a "change" of scenery would be good for them. Both of her parents had been hunters, but at the time of the "change," they had both fallen sick. The sickness had turned terminal, and within a month of moving to their new home, they both were dead.

The "change" had killed both of her parents when she was just a small girl. Even if she'd grown up, she still fervently believed that it was the fault of the "change" that killed them. She wasn't willing to accept any other conclusion.

And then the change of teachers. Her first hunting teacher suffered a fatal injury on a hunt the day after she's moved onto the final classes. Xera blamed herself for that, her teacher would still be alive if she hadn't "changed" teachers.

As far as Xera was concerned, "change" meant that something horrible, and usually fatal, was going to happen, and it always seemed to happen to someone she cared about.

She hoped that Ryuhime's change would turn out good for her; otherwise Xera might have to make a "change" to herself as well. And she didn't want to leave Elric alone again, she may have only met him yesterday, but after he helped Ryu, Xera felt…something for him. Not a crush, she knew that for sure, but something…

"Be safe Ryu…" Xera whispered, so quiet that she could barely hear it.

After Ryuhime had made the decision, there wasn't much more to discuss. The three went their separate ways to pack.

Ryuhime went back to the village to pack. At the last minute, she remembered that there wasn't anything for her to pack; all of her stuff had burned to nothingness. At least nothing important had burned. The most important stuff was still safe on her body, namely the hair clasps her mother had given her and her favorite clothing, the purple undergarments.

_Maybe it's for the best,_ she thought, _a fresh start will banish all of the memories of Ivan's torments from all my years here in the village._

She decided to go shopping for supplies that she could take to help them on quests.

On the way to a store, she was accosted by one of the elders of the village. He stopped her in the street to offer his condolences about her house burning down.

"Ryuhime!" He called to her as she ran by. "I'm so sorry."

Ryuhime had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. "Sorry for what?"

"You haven't heard? Oh dear. I don't know how I should say this, but your house burned down last night, it looks like everything inside burned up with it. At least nobody was hurt right?"

That stopped Ryuhime cold. _Nobody hurt?_ Somebody should definitely have been hurt by the fire. Where the hell was Ivan? There should've been at least one corpse in the house. Ryuhime panicked. "What did you say?"

"Your house, it burned down. Everything that was inside was incinerated, completely gone."

"No, not that. There were no injuries."

"Don't worry; nobody was harmed in the fire. And even if someone had been, we certainly wouldn't have blamed you, you weren't home."

Ryuhime chewed on her lip. She couldn't keep inquiring or he might start to suspect something. She bid him goodbye and headed back to the task at hand. While she wandered toward the store, she pondered what could have happened.

_Had he survived? _She shuddered at that thought. If he was still alive, there was a massive danger to her, he'd surely try to take revenge and she didn't even want to think about how he would do it.

She chewed theories around her thoughts for a while, there had to be a better option, _there had to be!_

_Maybe he had died? _Much as she hated thinking it, it was her preferable option. It was what she hoped had happened. If Ivan was dead, burned to death, then she had no worries, like the old man had said, they wouldn't blame her, she hadn't been home at the time. But what about the body, Ivan's body should still have been there, burned, but still there. Maybe it had been burned away completely?

No, the bones should've still been there. She knew that bones could be burned away to ash, but she didn't think that the fire had been that powerful. There hadn't been that much of a fuel for the fire to feed on. Maybe the drink had been stronger than she'd first assumed?

It was the only thing she could come up with. She decided that that must have been the answer. It wasn't as if he'd been able to just get up and walk away.

If she was right though, why did she feel a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach?

Xera may have had more to pack than Ryuhime, but she still didn't have a lot. Xera wasn't very (openly) emotional or sentimental, leading to her peers to refer to her as "a cold-hearted, ruthless bitch." Of course, nobody called her that to her face, if they did, they ended up with a swift trip to the medical facilities. Xera didn't like being insulted…

So in the end, she left with only her swords, the weak longsword she used when it suited her and the heavy but dull greatsword that she used for most of her actual fighting, her pouch, which was completely empty, and the last memento of her late hunter parents, a shakalala mask.

Her parents had made her swear to see everything through open eyes, without judgment. They had given her the mask to remind her not to cover her eyes, or herself from those who truly cared. She didn't reveal herself, but she lived with those morals that her parents forced onto her.

Now, she couldn't even imagine leaving without the mask, it was more a part of her than her parents. Her parents had been missing from her life since she was just a young girl, so young that her exact age was a mystery to her, the mask though, had always been there to replace them.

She didn't even remember what her parents looked like, oh sure, she knew basic details, like her father was this tall and her mother's hair was black. But she couldn't really remember ever seeing them; she couldn't remember the details for herself, it was always secondhand knowledge. The village made sure that she knew what her parents looked like, but that didn't matter to her, she wanted to _see_ what they looked like, but she couldn't do that anymore.

She threw the swords over her shoulder, knowing that it would be terrible to have them both there if she was attacked, but she wasn't going far beyond the bounds of the village into the forest. There shouldn't be any danger, plus she was _Xera_, monsters weren't going to defeat her, there was as much chance of that happening as the sky falling on her to kill her.

She took a leisurely route back to the forest. She was in no hurry, Ryu would probably be shopping all day and they'd wait for her return to leave.

En route to Elric's manor, she ran into Nailah. Almost literally, they stopped just scant inches away from each other.

Xera steadied both of them and spoke first, "Hey Nailah, what're you in such a rush for, Ulf got a present for you or something?"

Nailah looked sheepish, "Nooooo," She drawled, "Haven't you heard? Oh, that's right; you were at the champion's house weren't you? Did you ever find out his name? Because I'm actually really curious about what it is. I asked Ulf but he said that he didn't know. Nobody else was willing to tell me, even though I think that they know, they just don't want to tell us, or insult him by giving his name out to just _anybody_.

"So did he tell you? And what did you do up there? Did he feed you dinner? Because I know you Xera and if you didn't eat a full meal, things could turn out badly for people, or monsters, so maybe it'd be a good thing if you weren't allowed to eat because then you would take it out on the monsters and they would die and people would be safer. As long as you didn't kill _all _the monsters, other people need jobs too, and it could damage the ecolology."

Xera recognized the failed pronunciation of the word but before she could interrupt to correct her, Nailah stormed on, "So, what'd you do? Are you gonna tell me or am I gonna have to ask someone else? Why are you so quiet? Is it cuz you don't wanna tell? Why wouldn't you want to tell me? Aren't I one of your closest friends? Or is it something else?

"Did you do something you don't wanna talk about? Oh, you _didn't_?" The emphasis she put on the phrase made it obvious what she was talking about. But before Xera could correct her, she again continued rambling and holding a conversation with herself. "Oh my God!" She squealed. "I can't believe you did _that_ with the champion! After you just met him? You won't even do that with people you've known all your life! I know, I'm one of the ones you shot down. Not that I'm complaining, if you hadn't then I wouldn't have ended up with Ulf. Not that you're not good, but he _is_ Ulf.

"And I mean, Ulf is _Ulf_, he's like a God of men. He's more perfect than a statue because he's actually real, and he's still got the perfect hard muscles that you find on statues so he's awesome. And…" Xera drifted out of the conversation at that point.

_My God!_ She thought. _Does this girl ever shut up?_ Xera was just tired of listening to her by this point, so she decided to shut her up.

Xera lashed her hand out and put two fingers sharply onto Nailah's lips to keep her quiet for a moment. "First thing's first. No I don't want to hear about Ulf, _at all._" Nailah tried to interrupt but Xera kept her lips sealed. "The champion's name is Elric, he doesn't care if people know, yes he fed me, no we didn't share a bed, you know me better than that, I did spend the night though. I couldn't answer you before because you kept cutting me off; of course you're one of my closest friends. Now what haven't I heard?"

Nailah somehow managed to keep track of everything in her head and knew immediately what she was referring to. "Well, after you and Elric went to his house, something happened in the village. Something bad, really bad, and when I say really bad I mean _really_ bad, not like that time we lost Sheryl's brother," Xera didn't even know who Sheryl was, "but he turned out to be playing a game and had hidden in the attic. Which by the way was a really good hiding spot, especially considering his size since he's so small."

Xera clamped her fingers back over Nailah's lips. "What did I miss, Nailah?" She pleaded.

"Oh yeah, the really bad thing right. Um what was it?" Xera slapped her hand against her forehead. "Oh yeah! Ryuhime's house burned down."

Xera waited for her to embellish on the story. Nailah remained quiet. Seriously! The one thing Xera actually wanted to learn about, and Nailah chooses to be quiet about _this_ story? Xera grabbed Nailah's shoulders and shook her. "What!" She screamed."What happened?"

"Ryuhime's house burned down. I'm not really sure what actually happened, nobody really is. Isn't it weird how something like that, a house burning down just outside the village, and nobody notices it until later? I mean, I guess that it makes sense, because it just happened, but it doesn't. Does that make sense? You would think that the smoke would be visible, because it wasn't just a low fire. Nope, according to the elders, the fire was instant and devastating.

"Apparently everything inside and part of the hut was ignited almost simultaneously. The whole house burned up so quickly that even if we found out about it earlier, we wouldn't have been able to stop it. There was a powerful faster-er used, or something like that."

Xera snuck in an answer. "Accelerant!"

"Yep that's it! Anyway, there was one of those, by the way what are those? I remember one hunter talking about accelerating the airships, is it like that? Because that doesn't make sense, there were no airships that crashed into her house. And how would that start a fire?"

Xera began, "No, an acc-"

She got interrupted, "It's not like the ships are on fire. Are they? How do they stay afloat?"

Xera began again, "The airships use fi-"

Nailah didn't stop. "Is it magic? Because I was told that magic isn't real. But my parents also tried telling me that monsters weren't real. They didn't mean hunting monsters of course, we know those are real. She meant the monsters under beds, but who knows if those are real or not?

"I mean, have you ever seen one? No! So, that means that they aren't there right? But what if they just aren't there when you're looking. Isn't there an elder dragon that does that? Maybe he's hiding under our beds?"

Xera knew this one too. "The chameleos is an el-"

Nailah barreled on. Or at least, tried to. "And either way it's not li-" Xera clamped her fingers down on Nailah's lips. Nailah licked them and giggled.

"Nailah, please, I can't do this anymore. Just tell me what happened so I stop having cardiac arrest."

Nailah gave her a blank gaze. "What's dat?" She purposefully mispronounced the word. "Is it when someone does something really really bad?"

"What?" Xera thought for a moment how she'd made _that_ connection. Arrest_, okay that makes more sense._ "No, cardiac arrest is when your heart stops functioning properly."

"Oh, why's your heart not working right? Is something wrong? Should I go get somebody? That's sounds dangerous, but are you sure about it? It sounds made up. Where'd you learn that? You were in all the same classes I was! How did you learn something I didn't?"

Xera shut her up again. "It isn't very hard. You didn't pay attention to _any_ classes once you met up with Ulf." Nailah nodded and started to respond. Xera didn't let her. "And either way, Ryuhime told me. I learned more from her than I ever did from the teachers. Cardiac arrest is very dangerous…I guess…Mine's actually fine, it was a comparison. I was saying that you were giving me troubles. It's probably more a case that you gave me angina."

"Oh, angina, I have one of those!"

Xera smacked her forehead again. "No, angina. It's not the same word!"

"Oooooooh. Cool, are you sure though? When I talked to my mom about it a long time ago, she told me I gave her angina too. You're both girls, you both have anginas, don't only girls have anginas?"

"No!" Xera really didn't want to have to go through this. She was still worried about Ryu, but until Nailah's curiosity was sated, she wouldn't let the topic go.

"So boys have anginas too, that's weird. Ulf's angina looks _way_ different than mine then. I thought that the boys anginas were called something with a p though. What was it? Oh yeah! Pen-"

Xera made a quick grab with her fingers again to shut Nailah up. "No, angina is not a body part. It does not belong to girls. It is a chest pain caused from fear or worry. Okay?"

"What are you worried about? Is it about Ryuhime's house burning down? Because it's not that bad. It happened sometime yesterday, while everybody was still celebrating about the graduation. Maybe that's why nobody noticed. All the celebration covered up the sound and the smoke probably blended in with the other fires."

Xera walked away while Nailah was talking. Nailah wouldn't be offended. Hell, someone could probably hit her with a rock and she wouldn't notice until the blood got to where she could see it.

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**BY this time, you've probably figured out the read/review thing. If you have, I won't repeat it. If you haven't yet, let me know in a review that you want me to teach you and I'll make sure next chapter has detailed instructions. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry everybody about the long wait between chapters but it's been hectic. I haven't forgotten y'all! Don't worry! I lost access to my Microsoft Word, then after I decided to submit to peer pressure and get openoffice, I lost internet, completely...but I'm kinda back at the moment, it might still be a while until the next and I'm gonna be starting college soon so...  
**

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The group of hunters swiftly loaded the airship. Well, the crew of the ship loaded it. Xera and Ryuhime tried to help, but the crew was adamant. They would not allow the hunters to touch their stuff while it was being loaded.

Xera walked away fuming and complaining. "Fine then! Dammit, if you want to work so hard, then just do it!" She stalked over to where Elric was sitting, already used to his crew's choices.

Ryuhime followed quickly after Xera. She didn't agree with Xera, but she wouldn't be the one to argue it.

Elric would though. "Eh, they're just stubborn. They remind me of a sweet girl I met recently. She's nice and all, but she's more stubborn than a melynx on felvine." He pocked Xera in the forehead, flinching back when she lunged forward to bite his fingers. "Jeez, I don't know which I'm more afraid of. You, my crew, or a deviljho."

"It should probably be me." Xera said pridefully. "Your crew are nothing, they're about as scary as an aptonoth."

"Hey, don't mock them." Elric protested.

"Who? Your crew? They aren't hunters. I doubt any of them would be able to hurt anything."

"I was actually talking about the aptonoth."He gave a look when Xera burst out laughing. "What? Those things are dangerous. One of them almost killed!"

"Seriously? Wow."

"What? I'm serious! Only felynes are scarier."

"Really? Felyne?" Xera smacked her palm against her forehead.

"Hey, don't mock. I'm dead serious about this." He leaned closer to her and Ryuhime. "Think about it. Have you ever seen a dead felyne? How about a melynx? Anybody ever kill one?"

"Sure plenty of-" Xera started.

"I doubt it. You've probably hurt them badly and made them retreat, but they were still mobile right? That means alive."

"Well, I suppose so." Xera was reluctant to give in.

"Anyway, the crew's all finished, let's go!" Elric led the way up the ramp into the airship.

They settled in to enjoy the journey. Once they arrived, Elric determined that he would take them hunting immediately. "It'll be a few days before we arrive, so you two should rest up, enjoy yourselves before we arrive. I'm gonna take you hunting the minute we land."

"Yes!" Xera exclaimed.

Ryuhime was more reserved. "J-just the three of us?"

"Why not?" Elric seemed to have no idea about why she would be hesitant.

"Well, they are monsters..." Ryuhime began timidly. "They're called that for a reason."

"No worries Ryu, I'll keep you two pretty ladies safe. If you two get injured, it'll be because I was overcome, or because you two were trying to get hurt." Elric chuckled when Xera slapped his shoulder for the 'pretty' comment.

Ryuhime bowed her head, feeling depressed over the budding romance between Elric and Xera. _There goes my chances..._ She cried in her thoughts.

Xera went and lay on a couch in the interior of the airship. Directly across from her sat Elric in a chair matching the couch. Ryuhime folded herself on the floor in front of Xera.

Xera may be hooking up with Elric, but that didn't mean that Ryuhime had to stop everything she usually did, did it?

Elric watched her gentle fold as she aligned herself as near to Xera as possible. He chuckled as he asked, "Why are you sitting on the floor? There are plenty of other seats in the room." He swept his arm to indicate the entire room.

Indeed there were, several other couches, deep cushioned chairs like the one he sat in, and plenty of other furniture she could be sitting on.

Xera made a circling gesture with her wrist. "It doesn't matter to her, she prefers to sit on the floor for some strange reason."

Ryuhime blushed. "I j-just think it's more comfortable."

Elric thought otherwise, but decided to keep to those thoughts to himself.

"Sooooo..." Xera drawled. "What are you gonna make us hunt once we get there?"

"A little impatient? Guess you're gonna have to suffer, cause I ain't telling."

Xera groaned, "Come on, how about a little hint?" She begged.

"Uh-uh, nope. Our hunt is for me to know and you two to figure out."

"Just an itty-bitty one?" She pursed her lips in an imitation of a puppy's beg.

"Damn it, I can't say no to the puppy dog eyes from a beautiful girl." Elric slapped a hand over his face. "Alright, a little hint, will that satisfy you?"

Xera nodded eagerly. She pushed herself to the edge of the couch, long black hair tumbling down over Ryuhime's head.

Ryuhime pushed forward to see through the curtain, inhaling deeply as she did so. Xera's hair smelled amazing, a musty scent-not quite cleaned of sweat, but not reeking of it. It was, like everything about Xera, perfect.

Elric glanced at Ryuhime, peeking through Xera's long straight hair. He chuckled, alerting Xera to what she was doing. She blushed and pulled back so her hair wasn't in Ryuhime's way anymore.

"So? What's our hint?" She almost screamed at him in her impatience. Xera was not a saint, she knew impatience was her problem and she freely acknowledged it.

"Okay, okay, keep your panties on." Elric joked.

"You wish I'd take them off." Xera retorted.

Ryuhime blushed because that was the exact thought that had been going through _her_ head. For a split second she had thought that Xera had read her mind.

"We can get to that later." Elric tried her patience even farther. ."But first we should probably get the matter of your hint out of the way, don't you think?"

Xera only growled angrily in answer.

"Such a proper lady." He mocked. "I'm going to be taking you two ladies on a journey to hunt a bright beast. Fighting him for any stretch of time proves to take the shock and bluster out of many fine hunters. Enlightening experiences are sure to come from this encounter, your minds will soar at the monster's abilities. And your hint? Bring antidotes."

"That doesn't count!" Xera accused. "Lots of monsters are poisonous. It needs to be more specific!"

"No it doesn't. I told you more than enough to get the monster right."

"You said it's poisonous." Xera pouted. "Tons of monsters are poisonous. You had better not be taking us out to hunt another damn iodrome. I swear, if you are, I'll hit you with my sword, and not the safe pretty side of the blade."

"Guess you'll just have to wait and find out, now won't you?"

Ryuhime spoke up, interrupting the both of them. "You're taking us to hunt a gypceros? Are rank ones allowed to hunt those?"

Both Xera and Elric stared dumbfounded at her. She blushed and apologized to their questioning gazes. "S-sorry."

Xera recovered first. "What do you mean a gypceros? How'd you get that from it being poisonous?"

Elric held a hand to stop Xera from speaking. "Yes I am. You're very intelligent Ryuhime. I must admit, I'm not sure if I could've figured that out by myself if I hadn't come up with it. I'm impressed, and they fall on the outer edge of what a rank one is allowed to hunt."

Xera alternated her incredulous stare between the two of them. "You mean she was right? How'd did you figure that out Ryu? There're at least three rank one monsters that are poisonous! Did you just make a lucky guess?"

"Xera!" Ryuhime exclaimed. "You know I don't believe in luck. It wasn't that hard to figure out." She blushed for having embarrassed Xera. "Sorry Xera."

"Don't be sorry, just tell me how you did it." Xera said, exasperated by Ryu's timid attitude.

"Well, the entire thing he said, it was a riddle. A 'bright beast' referring to the gypceros flash ability, 'stretch' because the monster is rubbery, 'take the shock out of' because it's rubbery and shock traps don't work against it, 'enlightening' again due to the flash ability, and 'soar' because it's a bird wyvern." She went quiet at the look on Xera's face.

"You figured all of that out while I was trying to single it out by poison? God, I'm stupid!"Xera threw her hands up into the air.

"N-no you're not!" Ryuhime argued, startling both of the others by her sheer volume.

Xera looked astonished at Ryu's raw noises. "I know I'm not, it's just an expression. Like 'I can't believe I didn't figure that out.'"

Ryuhime's mouth made a little 'o' as she understood.

"I swear Ryu, you're the smartest person I know, guy or girl. But sometimes, you're just such a dink!" Xera teased her.

"I'm not a dink." Ryuhime mumbled.

Xera bonked her on the top of her head softly, startling her.

"Hey!" Ryuhime complained. "What was that for?"

"For being a dink." Xera laughed. She was soon joined by Elric.

Ryuhime blushed furiously, but eventually relented and joined their humor. Xera righted herself to sit upright on the couch, one leg to either side of Ryuhime.

Ryuhime flushed. _She was right between Xera's legs! _She felt faint, like she was about to pass out from her excitement. If only Elric weren't there, and Ryuhime were braver, and Xera was interested... Okay, so maybe it didn't really have a chance of happening, but she could dream couldn't she?

Ryuhime stared across from her at Elric. His eyes were glittering with a deep-set humor. _He was laughing at her!_ She glared at him, but he only laughed.

Xera had no idea of the silent conversation between the two so she tugged on Ryu's hairpieces.

Ryu protested loudly. "Ow! Why do you always do that?"

"Because you look so cute when you're mad at me!" Xera piped happily.

Ryu blushed again. "N-no I don't." She mumbled.

Xera's laughter was joined quickly by Elric.

Ryuhime normally would've left the room, but she didn't dare move. Who knew when her next chance of sitting _there _would come? So she sat there and blushed furiously as the two laughed at her.

Xera noted it when Ryuhime didn't flee from their teasing. She normally ran away at any form of mockery, hell even a smirk had caused her to flee before.

_Guess she's growing up. _Xera thought, depressed. _Why is she changing so much!_ She screamed in her thoughts.

The irony wasn't lost on her, most friends would be ecstatic if their shy friend was finally breaking out of her shell. Maybe that meant she was a bad friend, but she didn't care, she loved her Ryu as she was, she was afraid that Ryu would change too much for her. What if Ryu decided to leave her? She didn't think that she could live with Ryu gone.

Elric clapped his hands, startling both of the girls from their personal reveries. Xera from her depressed thoughts, and Ryu from her dreams and fantasies.

Ryuhime got a pleasant surprise though. When Xera was surprised, her legs clenched together, wrapping warmly around Ryu's neck. She basked in the warmth radiating from the trim toned muscles.

She sniffed, inhaling deeply of Xera's natural perfume. Her delicate scent drove into Ryuhime's mind, thrilling her.

"Alright ladies, time for me to head to bed. You don't stay this good looking by staying up all hours of the night. You two don't have too much fun while I'm not around." He said with a wink and a grin as he stood.

Both Ryuhime and Xera blushed at his implication, although neither one saw the other one's blush.

After a little while of them sitting there, Ryuhime finally went to stand up. Xera let out a little sigh of disappointment, she'd really enjoyed having Ryu between her legs.

"You gonna turn in?" She asked, sounding a little disappointed, as Ryuhime walked from the room.

"Yeah, I uh, thought it might be best. If it's okay?" She stopped by the door.

"Of course it's alright!" Xera exclaimed. "You don't need to get my permission to do everything!"

"S-sorry." Ryuhime stuttered.

"And stop apologizing!"

And as expected, Ryuhime responded by saying, "Sorry."

"Just go." Xera gave up.

Ryuhime left Xera alone in the room and headed to one of the many sleeping quarters.

Behind her, and hidden from everybody's sight all day, a figure slipped from shadow to shadow. Caution outweighed his impatience right now. He didn't want to ruin his chance for revenge by being too impatient. Maybe he should pay a visit to Xera as well?

* * *

Xera opened up the door to the common area just as Ivan passed by. He leapt to the side, hiding behind an engine.

_That bitch!_ He growled angrily in his thoughts. _I'll give her what's coming to her, right after I give it to Ryuhime. And since she seems to have taken a fancy to the champion, I'll go kill him after. Leave her alive, raped, but alive. _He stifled his laughter, threatening to burst from him. _Let's see how cocky that bitch is after I rape her little girlfriend, kill her wannabe lover, and abuse the hell out of everything of hers._ His manic grin leading the way, he made his way confidently toward the room Ryuhime had just entered.

_But before I get the luscious Xera, time to pay Ryuhime back for burning me. _ He opened the door slowly to better stifle any possible creak. Nothing, the hinges were well-oiled every day although he didn't know that. All he knew was that it made his job that much easier.

Ryuhime had done exactly as she'd implied, heading straight for bed. She was curled up on her side, her back to the door as Ivan stepped into the room with her. He stared lustfully at her back, imagining her slim, naked form in his control. He panted with lust, barely able to control himself in his excitement.

With all of the thoughts rushing through his head, he almost forgot to close the door behind him. Almost, but he still had enough presence of mind to remember. With a gentle _click_, the door was shut and Ryuhime's fate sealed...

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**Alright well, I'm gonna give y'all a chance to participate in this all...Either send me a pm or do a review or something, either way I'mma let all y'all readers decide what they're gonna hunt. Before any options go up though remember two things: First, Ryu and Xera are only rank 1 so don't go suggesting they go and hunt a rukodiora and second, the list (as far as I'm concerned) goes according to difficulty therefore my list is the only one that counts. So as far as the first real group hunt in here with the new crew, I'm gonna say that any of the bird wyverns are able to be hunted for the first rankers, that means:**

**Great Jagii  
Giadrome  
Yian Kut Ku  
Qurupeco  
Great Baggi  
Great Furogi  
Gypceros  
Velocidrome  
Iodrome  
Gendrome  
**

**So there're your choices, vote...or don't...but if you don't vote then don't complain if the monster you wanted isn't chosen! I'll most likely put the full list of monsters somewhere in one of the chapters.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry about the wait here guys and gals. I've been quite busy with my life out here, but I haven't forgotten y'all, even if you've forgotten me... Why hasn't anybody made any decisions about what they should hunt? I've given all o' y'all the opportunity to participate in the story, and not one reply has come through! I'm very disappointed in you! But I'll forgive...I always do...**

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Xera was walking down the hallway to her own rooms, deep in thought. So deep in thought that she almost missed the soft click from a door. She turned around, figuring that it was just Ryu coming into the hallway for something, maybe a drink. She knew that Elric's room was further ahead, not specifically where but she knew it wasn't behind her. So that only left Ryuhime right?

She turned, lifting a hand in greeting, but the hallway was empty. She walked back down it, far enough to reach Ryuhime's door. A dirty thought crossed her mind. Maybe instead of sleeping in her own room tonight, she could convince Ryuhime to share _her_ room. She knew for a fact that Ryu wouldn't refuse. She'd never heard Ryuhime refuse anything before in her life when someone had asked her to do something. And if sharing a room led to sharing beds, well, Xera wouldn't complain. She knocked softly at the door before opening it.

She did so without shame, she'd had a little to drink and it had only bolstered her already formidable confidence. Like she bragged so often to everybody, she wasn't afraid of anything. And unlike many false braggarts who claimed the same, she wasn't afraid of her heart either...mostly.

The only reason she hadn't gone for Ryuhime earlier was, well, she had thought that Ryu was crushing on a boy in class besides Ivan. She didn't want to get in Ryu's way if she was interested in boys. Or other girls.

But it appeared that Ryu was abandoning all of the people in their class to stay with Xera, to Xera that meant that there might be some interest.

So she barged right into Ryu's room without waiting for acknowledgment. And good thing she did too. The sight that greeted her was almost enough to make her vomit.

A grotesque, disfigured, naked male figure was the sight to greet her. It was obvious what his intentions were due to the state of arousal he was in.

Xera wasn't sure wasn't sure what disgusted her more, the disfigured, horribly scarred body, or the sight of his arousal. Some freak had snuck on board and was trying to rape _her _Ryuhime? _Oh hell no!_

She charged forward and smashed her clenched fists into the back of the freak's neck. He dropped like a rock, and completely silently.

She dragged the body out of the room and back to her own. Before anything else, she was _going _to get some damn answers out of him.

Ryu woke up at the slamming of the door, but she couldn't see anything that would've disturbed her sleep. She knew that something had woken her, she wasn't one to wake randomly in the middle of the night. But she couldn't see anything so she curled back up and glanced nervously around herself. Eventually she fell back into an uneasy sleep.

Xera dragged the disfigured man back to her room relatively easily. He didn't even begin to regain consciousness until she closed the door... on his leg.

The leg snapped audibly. The man screamed out his pain, but Xera shoved the edge of her stiffened palm into his throat, instantly silencing him. While he sputtered and choked, she warned him. "Don't scream, or I'll just have to get rid of you entirely."

It worked, when he finally could breathe again, he didn't try to speak, he couldn't stop most of his sobs of pain and self-pity.

"Now who in hell are you? Why did you sneak on board _our_ ship?"

"Goddamn bitch!" Ivan sobbed at her. "You can't recognize me? No, of course you can't. After that stupid whore did this to me, I don't suppose anybody could recognize the amazing body of the one and only Ivan."

Xera was shocked, she'd not only thought that they'd left Ivan behind and as such hadn't given him another thought, but she also couldn't even imagine what could've happened to make him so horribly scarred and disfigured. Before she could inquire, he continued.

"I followed y'all to the ship to get revenge. Something I _know_ that you at least understand fully."

"What the hell happened to you?" Xera asked, honestly astonished and amazed.

"That goddamn whore did!" Ivan snapped.

Xera put two and two together quickly. He followed for revenge, and there were only two girls on the ship. And she hadn't done _this _to him.

Xera kicked the joining at the top of his legs. To keep his cries quiet, she dropped her elbow hard on his kidney, knocking the breath out of him in an explosive exhalation.

"Don't you dare, ever talk about her like that. If you call Ryuhime anything else near as vulgar, I won't hold back like I have been." Xera whispered darkly. Her voice was utterly calm, but laced thoroughly with a murderous intent.

Ivan sputtered to try to regain his breath. Once he began to breathe normally, she kicked him in the chest. Ivan was smart enough to not say anything besides his involuntary groans and pain-filled exhalations.

"What were you planning to do to her when I interrupted you?"

Ivan gulped. No matter what he said, he knew that he was screwed. "Um, easy there Xera." He said soothingly. "You don't want to do anything you're gonna regret."

"What were you going to do?" All emotion had completely left her voice. The only thing left was anger, fury, and the promise of death if she wasn't satisfied.

"Um, finished what we started." Ivan said. He hadn't meant to admit that, but she was so scary that he lost control of his speech.

"Finish what?" Her voice hadn't regained any sense but his promise, and he was still petrified of what she was going to do.

"Um, before she burned me, we were having a… romantic evening…" He tried to place the blame away from his own actions.

Xera glanced down uncertainly. If he was telling the truth, then Ryuhime did have feelings for him. She didn't want to kill someone that Ryu had a crush on, she'd feel terrible afterward. But this was _Ivan_!

Xera hated Ivan with a passion. If there was a more despicable human being on the planet, she hadn't met him yet. (Xera was biased; in her opinion, the only bad people were male.) But she held a special hatred in her heart for Ivan. She couldn't hurt Ivan though!

Xera's heart was troubled. She hated Ivan, but loved Ryuhime; she had found him in high arousal, but he and she had had a 'romantic evening;' Ivan deserved to die, but Ryuhime didn't deserve to be hurt.

While Xera was busy trying to make some sense of the scenario, Ivan recognized her troubled mind. Whenever Xera was confused her face scrunched up and she got a glazed look in her eyes.

He grinned, and that grin spread as her mind grew more disrupted.

Xera didn't like to have to think. She wasn't stupid, nor was she opposed to thinking, she just preferred when her answers were straight forward and easy. This scenario she was currently forced into had no easy answers.

But when she saw the grin on Ivan's face, she grew much more aggressive. For some reason, his idiotic face smiling at her just filled her with a terrible rage. She kicked the side of knee, which snapped and broke completely.

She grinned when she heard the joint break. This time she didn't stop Ivan's scream. She wanted him to know that even if everybody on the ship came, he wouldn't be saved. She leaned in close to his panting face.

"I bet you I can guess exactly what kind of 'romantic evening' you treated Ryuhime to. Am I right? I thought so." She continued even though he hadn't answered her. "Now you have two options, either tell me _exactly _what happened, or I'm going to make you hurt. Course if you don't wanna tell me, I'll toss you out of the ship with a noose tied 'round your only friends."

Ivan gulped audibly. This was Xera, she wasn't right in the head, hell, he'd feel safer if a deviljho had him pinned at the moment rather than Xera.

"Um, okay." He said, trying to placate her enough to so that he could figure some way out of his predicament. She snapped her carving knife off of her things to the side and slapped the flat of the blade against the top of his thigh. "Alright, goddammit woman, give me a second.

"I went over to Ryuhime's house to punish her for earlier." He flinched when Xera's fists clenched, but she didn't strike out at him. "When she spurned me a long time ago, it made me want her all the more. After the final exam, I asked her for another shot at us, but she seemed to be disinterested.

"I still went. I figured I could bring some alcohol, use that to loosed her up. So I did, and she got defensive. It was too much, I reached for her, and she attacked me. She tried to kill me with her switchaxe. I fought her off as best I could, but she beat me to the ground. Then she burned her house down on my head." He was lying, but lying was a skill he had a lot of talent and practice in.

Unfortunately for him, Xera was able to read his lies. She could almost taste it when he lied to her, it wasn't just him, she could do it with just about anybody. Her abilities were unique.

Xera's hands clenched and she checked herself before throttling him, although it would make her feel better, it wouldn't actually accomplish anything. She wanted to learn how far Ivan had gone, how far he was willing to go, and how much he thought he could get away with lying to her with.

Apparently a lot.

Xera sat and listened as he rambled for a few hours, his lies just building up and upon each other. He tried to insinuate that Ryuhime had instigated his passion subtly, winking at him when no one was looking, giving him smiles from across the room, little things that burned into him, things he couldn't forget because of how he felt about her.

If Ivan had had any actual belief in what he was telling Xera, she might've been a little lenient towards him, since he had done much of it out of love, but since he didn't, neither did she.

She grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him forcefully to his feet, not caring when she tore his skin and drew blood. He _dared_ to lie to her, threaten her Ryuhime, attempted to rape Ryuhime and herself, and, she knew this though he had never mentioned anything of the sort, kill Elric.

She dragged him to the edge of a window near the loading areas, which were currently being used to store provisions for their journey and for when they docked. He struggled a little, leading Xera to spin in a tight pirouette and lash a high kick against his chest.

He stumbled back into a wall next to the window and was dazed for a few moments. He didn't really understand that those would among his last once Xera had her way with him.

She quickly secured a thin length of rope into a lariat, which she then looped around Ivan's most prized possessions.

This immediately brought him out of his stupor. "W-wait, what are you doing?" He said in a higher than average pitch for him.

"What do you think? Idiot." Xera made her opinion of him abundantly clear.

"N-no, please." He groaned in vast agony as she pulled the hoop tighter, cutting off circulation and burning his tender flesh with the speed in which she yanked.

Then she maneuvered him so that his back was to the large window, affording any occupants of the room with an awe-inspiring vista. It would suit her needs sufficiently as well.

Ivan sensed her plan moments before she began.

"Ivan, you idiot." She taunted him. "I know Ryu hates you. Everybody with half a brain, no scratch that, even girl without that much know better. Just face it, nobody with any shred of intelligence would ever find you anything less than repulsive, especially now. Plus, you never had much going for you anyway." Her pointed, disdainful look gave evidence of her meaning.

Ivan blushed. Then cursed himself for letting her get to him like that. She was teasing him, she had hurt him sure, but not even Xera was psycho enough to kill him, right?

"And I _know_ what you were planning to do with her." Xera's glare turned steely cold. "You were planning to rape her, probably violently, then kill her, am I right? Then knowing how sick and twisted you are, you probably thought I'd be nice to have after? Then why not take the ship while you're at it? You already killed twice, why not thrice?"

Ivan sputtered denials and excuses, but Xera didn't pay them any heed. Then all of a sudden he just stopped and smiled at her.

This shocked Xera out of her monologue. He was smiling at her? _Smiling?_ What the hell?

"C'mon Xera shut the hell up!" He snapped. "We all know you won't do anything. You're too chicken to ever do anything of this sort. How long have you despised me? So what, after 15 years you finally grow bold enough to stop me? Once a pussy, always a pussy." He chuckled. "Now get me out of here and go back to your room like a good little girl, I'll come visit after Ryu."

Xera's head tipped slightly to the side as a wide grin spread across her face. "You know Ivan? You think you're awesome and mighty, a pinnacle of manhood, I'm sure you wouldn't hesitate to kill another person, despite the laws. I'm pretty sure Ulf wouldn't, nor Nailah if it suited her. But guess what?

"Yeah, about those laws?" She rushed him and kicked his tied 'package.' He fell backwards out of the airship, plummeting to the ground rapidly. Before he fell too far though, she finished her statement. "I don't really give a damn." Then she shrugged and turned away from the window.

The rope tied around Ivan's little friends was secured at its other end to a massive beam, one of the support beams that allowed the sub-cabin where Xera had pushed him from to even exist. The rope snapped taut and Ivan cried out in pain. His scream was so forceful, that even over the wind of passage as they flew, Ryuhime, Xera, and Elric all heard it.

Elric woke from his sleep, heard the noise, and idly wondered when someone would bother to let him know what had happened.

Ryuhime didn't wake, but when her unconscious form heard the scream, her fitful sleep became infinitely more peaceful. She rolled over and curled up happily with a dreamy smile on her face.

Xera only grinned, then headed back to her room for some sleep. Her plan with Ryuhime was long gone from her mind, she'd completely forgotten what she'd wanted to do.

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**They need to hunt something after the gypceros, so you guys can still vote! Don't waste the opportunity, I may not give another!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Alright so here's the next chapter, I'm posting this right before finals, while I should be studying, or writing final essays, so you all had better be thankful!**** I don't know how long until the next chapter'll be coming out, I get initiative randomly now, since reviews have all but vanished...**

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Elric woke first, aside from the crew. They'd already been up for hours, steadying the ship and ensuring that their descent today would be perfect. They worked for _Elric_ the champion, everything they did for him was as perfect as could be.

His heightened senses, honed from years of hunting monsters (two official years, with a few training ones as well, not too many actually...), listened intently. Over the rushing wind, he could almost hear what seemed to be screaming, but from a long distance.

He shrugged, putting it down to nothing more than one of the illusions of high altitude flight.

He then headed into the kitchen, to ensure that the chef cooked enough for him _and _Xera to gorge themselves. That meant a _lot_ of food.

En route, he was startled, as was everyone else, when the airship suddenly was jerked from the sky!

It didn't fall far, it was only a small jerk. But it sufficed to awaken anybody who was still asleep, as well as terrify anybody who wasn't.

Xera was launched clear from her bed, landing in a groaning heap on the other side of the room. She immediately left her room to share a few choice words with whoever had caused the bump.

Ryuhime was jolted out a pleasant dream involving herself and Xera (I'll leave the details to you, but I think you can guess what it was.). She too stood from her bed and left to find what happened.

Elric met them on their way to the captain's post. He was at a loss as well, nobody could come up with a reason for the jerk.

At that moment, one of the laborers from down below came racing up. He was very excited about something, so excited that it took them three tries to calm him down long enough to get the story from him.

"I found this waving in the wind behind us," He said, producing a long, thin rope, frayed and torn at one end. "This was attached to the sub-cabin support beam, the other end was just waving around, heading out the window."

"Any ideas?" The captain asked Elric.

"None from me, you two girls?" Elric asked, looked pointed at Xera.

Xera had been grinning slightly, already knowing exactly what had happened. "I don't know, why are you looking at me like that? Ryu could done something too! And if she did, I'm sure it would be worse than anything I'd come up with."

"I didn't do anything!" Ryuhime immediately protested.

"Okay?" Elric questioned. "I just wanted to know if you had any ideas about what it might have bee. No need to get so defensive. Sheesh."

"Were we attacked by a monster?" Xera asked, truly hoping the answer was yes.

She was not disappointed. Ryuhime took one look at the rope that the captain held in his hands and whistled. "Wow, we got attacked by a big monster. Good guess Xera."

"I was right? Awesome! How do you know?"

"The bite. Plus the fact that we're flying. That leads me to only one conclusion: an elder dragon."

"Okay, run that by me again..." Xera was lost.

But she wasn't alone. "Same here," The captain muttered.

"Even I can't follow her." Elric bemoaned.

"We're in the air correct." Ryuhime waited until all three of them nodded before continuing. "That automatically reduces the number of monsters that could have done it. And we know that it's a monster because the rope was bitten, without a doubt I'll say that.

"Look here," She held up the end of the rope that was torn. "Do you see how even this cut is? In the very middle are a few strands that show where the edge of some sharp object came together. If it had been a knife, those wouldn't be there, same with scissors. That leads to the monster conclusion.

"We're in midair, using a massive amount of force to keep ourselves aloft. What kind of monster has enough power to match that, plus more still to pull us in reverse?"

"An elder dragon!" Xera suggested.

"Yep." Ryuhime beamed at her. "None of the flying bird wyverns would've been able to do that. Plus, almost any flying monster, wouldn't have stopped at eating whatever was on the end of that rope, they'd have attacked the ship proper as well.

"So I'm thinking one of the land-based elder dragons, most likely either immense in size or readily able to jump. My guess would be a deviljho."

"Why a deviljho?" Xera inquired.

"Cause deviljho are more ravenous than any other monster, they'll attack anything if they get food out of it. They'll eat something they _know _is dangerous, or poisonous, just to get a bite to eat."

Elric nudged Xera as he said, "Sounds like a hunter I'm getting to know."

"Shut up." She replied.

The captain butted in, saying, "We'll be landing soon, it shouldn't be anything for us to land, but if a deviljho's in the area, we can't be sure. Deviljho have been known to go straight into Loc Lac before when they're really hungry."

Elric shuddered; he remembered _that_ fiasco quite well. He still had nightmares about all the devastation.

"Let's head back to the common room to wait out our landfall." He suggested.

Ryuhime began to head back to her own room, but Xera grabbed her arm and pulled her along.

"B-but I'm not dressed!" She protested. It was true, when she was sleeping; Ryuhime removed the top portion of her basic clothing and replaced it with a loose shift.

"You were fine enough standing around with everybody else, so you're good for now. We have to make sure everybody's safe while we land, wouldn't want you to get hurt." Xera replied logically. Truth be told, it was a partial lie, she really just wanted to keep staring at her in the shift.

"Yeah, but that was different." Ryuhime protested.

"Nope, doesn't work like that." Xera pulled her into the room where Elric was now sprawled out over one of the couches.

Xera threw herself into one of the massively cushioned chairs while Ryuhime immediately placed herself at Xera's feet.

Elric again only shook his head at their antics.

The descent finished with relatively little problems. A line snapped, but it wasn't _that _important and they were able to fly through it.

Elric led them to another window. Looking out through it, they were awed by their first vision of Loc Lac. It was a massive, expansive city that spread for a good several miles in any directions. At its very center stood a massive pillar devoted to the thrill of monster hunting.

Shops, statues, massive buildings whose purpose nobody who didn't work there knew, houses, all of them were strewn through the city, filling the massive city almost to the brim. Walking through the streets it could be easily identified that there were several thousand people all walking to their destinations.

To Ryuhime and Xera though, that was several thousand more people than they'd ever _seen_ in one place before. Their village wasn't even one of the larger ones; it was actually pretty small and secluded.

Xera handled the massive amounts of people with relative ease; she didn't easily become intimidated by anything, but Ryuhime couldn't handle it well. She was already frightened of it, and they weren't even hunting an actual monster yet!

"Um, wow, that's a lot of people…" She said timidly.

"A lot of competition you mean." Was Xera's answer.

"It's a huge city; chances are we'll probably never see any of them." Elric comforted them.

"Okay…" Ryuhime gave in. She couldn't exactly go back to her secluded little home anymore anyway, so she was stuck.

"Come on, we're going hunting." Elric led the way off of the ship. "Leave your stuff behind, the crew will bring it to my house."

"Wait, you're taking us hunting right now?" Ryuhime was incredulous.

"I told you as soon as we landed. We landed didn't we?"

"Well yeah I guess so…"

Elric led them to a tavern and told them to sit at one of the tables. "Stay here while I go get our quest." He ordered.

Ryuhime was already starting to feel awkward, people were staring at her. Well, not exactly her, more at her chest. She felt uncomfortable with all the guys in the room bringing unwanted attention to her breasts. Not only the guys were staring at them though, although they were the ones with lust in their eyes.

Many of the females were staring too, either in desire, wishing that they had breasts as full and round as Ryuhime's, or in disgust that she would walk around in the bare minimum amount of armor with mounds that bountiful.

Xera was on edge too. She was used to herself being the center of attention, that she was used to, but with everybody staring at her Ryuhime, she felt uncomfortable as well. Her hands clenched as a wellspring of aggression opened up within her, but she held back. Elric had told her to stay there, so she didn't want to leave and punch somebody out.

Elric made remarkable time on his return, coming back with a piece of paper in his hand. "Here we go: gypceros." He slapped the page down in front of them.

"In an unstable environment." Ryuhime read.

"Why does that concern us?" Xera inquired.

"It doesn't, we'll be fine, trust me." Elric tried to make them overlook that fact.

"It means that we'll be hunting a gypceros, but at the same time, another monster could be hunting us." Ryuhime explained to Xera. She'd already told Xera about the environment definitions before, but she wouldn't tell Xera that and embarrass her.

"Let's go then people." Elric told them as he turned to walk out of the tavern. He spun a quick pirouette and headed back to the table. "Right after we eat!"

They called a serving girl over to take their orders and they all came up with combinations to try out. Elric was very certain in his choice, while Ryuhime was very reserved. She only ordered things that she knew for certain from prior experiences tasted good to her palate. Xera was quite imaginative in her choices: tough meat and popo tongue.

All of their foods came out rather quickly, brought to them by a team of three felynes.

Xera dug immediately into her food, tearing it apart with gusto. Ryuhime was eating with more calm and grace. Elric seemed to find a nexus between the two, devouring his meal with speed, but not as much so as Xera.

When all three had finished, they set out to hunt the gypceros.

They arrived in the jungle with only their supplies. Elric had disdained most of his, keeping only his longsword and armor by his side, or at least, that's what he had told the girls.

"It's only a gypceros, they aren't too dangerous after all."

Ryuhime was well stocked; both with extra supplies from the first hunt (the iodrome) and more that she'd bought in preparation for this hunt.

Xera was more of Elric's attitude, although she had admitted to having a few health potions on her person, then dared either of them to try and find.

Elric had immediately volunteered, and Ryuhime had wanted to, but she was too scared to actually do so. Elric got slapped for his troubles.

"Xera!" Elric said loudly, turning and pointing at her. "Where should we go to find the gypceros?"

"How would I know?" She responded. "I kill, other people find them for me."

"Nope, today you find it. We're both following your lead."

"We might be here a long time…" Xera set out into the heavily wooded areas, both not knowing the terrain, as well as not having a clue about the gypceros's habits.

Elric followed her diligently, just like a puppy, a deadly, infinitely powerful puppy, but a puppy none-the-less. Ryuhime looked around, curious as to what she'd find looking around the area.

She got more than she bargained for though. While she was digging through the roots of a tree, the other two went on ahead.

She knew they would, but she didn't think that it would take her as long as it did. When she turned back around, expecting to see them only a little ways ahead, they had already moved beyond her line of sight.

"Um, guys?" She called. She didn't want to shout, she might attract some monster, but she was alone, and started to get scared.

"Guys!" She called out louder. She was really starting to get distressed with her isolation.

She didn't realize it, but her voice triggered a response in the forest around her.

A bulldrome and his family heard her. Taking to their natural territorial instincts, they turned toward the sound of her voice angrily. They charged, but she heard them grunting long before she was in any danger. She flipped her switchaxe open into blade form and stood her ground as they charged.

When the first one reached her, she waited until the absolute last moment before she threw herself to the side. As she dodged, she swung her blade in a horizontal arc, slamming it into the brute's side. Not that that did much. Her blade barely penetrated the thick hide of the bullfango. The next attack she put her blade directly in the way of the creature. It slammed into the blade and continued pushing. She pushed the tip of the blade down, lifting the handle and dug it into the ground.

The bullfango continued its charge, pushing her back a few paces. The blade did an admiral job of stopping the beast, forcing it to a standstill, where it eventually became unable to move her back any farther.

Another one was aiming to strike her from the side, but she'd already accounted for flanking techniques by them. She adjusted her feet to make her balance perfect. It would be a close shot.

An instant before she was attacked, she flung herself backwards. It was a narrow dodge, but she made it. The two bullfangos ended up charging into one another knocking them both to ground.

She pulled back and stabbed forward with her weapon, activating her weapon's ability. The blade jumped wildly in her hand, blasting energy forward at the creatures, smashing raw power into them. They fled away from her, panting from the exertion and pain.

"Please keep running; I don't want to kill you." Ryuhime begged when they turned back toward her.

They didn't listen, choosing to race back at her.

She swept the blade in another horizontal arch, hitting the first hard and driving it into the other. They both fell, but immediately rolled back to their feet.

"C'mon, just leave me alone, I really don't wanna kill you." She begged yet again.

And yet again, they ignored her, charging right back at her. She stabbed forward as one ran at her. It impaled itself on the end of her blade, using enough inertial force to smash its skull open.

"Oh my god!" Ryuhime freaked. She was a hunter, but she honestly hated actually hurting the monsters, she preferred to capture them when she could. She _would _kill them when necessary, but these guys weren't even mentioned on the hunt list. They didn't need to die, but she sure as hell wasn't going to let them kill her.

She felt sick over her unneeded killing, and her legs grew wobbly. "Please?" She asked again.

The other ones looked to the bulldrome, only two bullfangos were left, and their leader, which was more than enough danger, but Ryuhime'd already calculated it out. She knew exactly how they would charge, and how she'd have to react. She was prepared.

But their deference to the bulldrome surprised her. Although all bullfango usually deferred to bulldromes, they also usually would attack until an intruder was no longer a threat. So, being cautious, she examined the bulldrome thoroughly.

He was large, and to judge solely based off of the tusk size, it was a _he_, she was careful to avoid looking for confirmation. She didn't need to know its gender to know that it was dangerous.

This one also had tusks that were really large, further evidence for the male diagnosis, but the right tusk was nearly half a foot larger than the other. _So he's right dominant, and old. That means confident, but also cautious._ She thought to herself.

She also saw his eyes just before he narrowed them to slits. They looked normal, but his left was off-center, not by much, but it was enough. So he was partially blind on that side. When he narrowed them, his right eye was kept open more, while the left was nearly shut completely, confirming her thoughts.

So she was prepared for his charge, and charge he did. He went all-out trying to gore her, A cloud of dust and dirt shot up into the air after him.

Ryuhime waited as long as she could, then dove forward and to the left, just rolling under his tusk. The beast continued, charging over her, and she rolled back to her feet. She hit the thing on its hind with the broad side of the blade, hoping to anger him enough to make him continue running and leave the area. She knew that once he was gone, his pack would flee as well. For the moment, they were just sitting by the sidelines, content with letting their alpha handle her.

He grunted and altered his direction. Ryuhime was reminded of some of the assholes she'd gone out with before. Just because she'd never taken an interest in anybody didn't mean she didn't date. She didn't want to be seen as a freak, especially by Xera, so she accepted somebody's offer once upon a blue moon. But she'd only ever gone out with three guys, and two turned out to be terrible people. The third wasn't too bad, but she hadn't had a true interest in him. She was only interested in Xera.

All that passed back through Ryuhime's mind in an instant, all derived from the bulldrome's grunting. She remembered the pain of those relationships, physical and mental, but tried pushing past it. Tears quickly filled her eyes, so she blinked quickly, trying to clear them enough to see.

By this time, the bulldrome had already begun to attack her again. She knew already that she wouldn't be able to dodge. She'd spent too much time in her memories, and now she had made a mistake in her calculations.

She swung wildly, panic starting to set in as all of her careful plans went to naught in her fright. Her blade barely made a scratch in the bulldrome's thick hide. And then he was upon her, knocking her to the ground and goring her deeply in the side with his tusk. He continued in his rush, trampling her underneath him as well.

As he passed over her, he got her hard in the temple with his hind hoof. Ryuhime was knocked out cold, her last image that of him turning around again and charging her again...


	11. Chapter 11

**Alright, five chapters posted in one session. I'm very proud of myself, everybody read and review, and check out the others if ya want!**

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Xera finally noticed that Ryuhime wasn't following them. She'd actually noticed a while ago, but now it was starting to concern her.

Elric wasn't concerned so much as curious. He'd seen the exact moment that Ryuhime had been left behind. Judging from the tracks and spoor around that area, he also had a pretty good guess of what she'd run into if she didn't hurry. They were nasty, but not that bad compared to some other monsters.

"Um, Elric? Where'd Ryu get off to?" Xera asked him, hoping that he'd be able to answer.

"I don't know." He said calmly, skillfully dodging her inquiry. "It's your quest. I'm just here to observe. You lost your teammate, not me. Guess you should've kept a better watch on her."

Xera grew angry; she did that quite a lot. She got angry pretty easily. She pushed against his shoulder, forcing her way past him. "Are you gonna do anything?" She grunted angrily.

"Eh, probably not." Elric chuckled. He was enjoying himself on this little outing. Of course, if worst came to worst-a phrase he'd never really understood, after all if worst is coming to the worst people, isn't that a good thing? Then the best can go to others who deserve it right?-he'd step in and help out. But he wanted to see what his companions could do on their own.

Xera growled at him. Growling was kinda her thing, hence her being compared to a monster. "We're going back for her." She ordered.

Elric turned and bowed, gesturing grandiosely for her to lead the way. "After you mistress."

"Don't call me that." She snapped in response.

"Fine, you're no fun Xera." Elric laughed.

"Shut up." She stormed back in the direction she'd travelled before. She never forgot a path once she travelled it, in fact, she never got lost in general.

And so it didn't take them long to back track to Ryuhime.

Ryuhime's eyes fluttered open and she saw the Bulldrome charge at her again. "No..." She muttered, tears spilling from her eyes as she thought about all of the things she'd never experienced.

Most of all, she was sad that she'd never gotten to bed down with Xera. And that Xera wasn't there when she died.

But little did she know, Xera was right there, arriving just in time...almost. She got there seconds before the bulldrome hit Ryuhime, so close in timing that she was stuck on the other side of Ryu with the bulldrome's tusks within inches of Ryu's flesh. She held her greatsword out horizontally with the flat out toward the creature, stopping it cold.

"You're not touching my Ryu!" She shouted, looking down. With anybody else it would be a mistake, but she wanted to check on Ryuhime's health. She was out cold with a spot of blood staining her temple. Xera wanted to bend down and check her, but that would most likely just add to her danger.

Then Elric ran out of nowhere and shoulder rushed the bulldrome. "You handle the creature, I'll check on her."

Xera nodded her acceptance. "Good plan," Then she slapped her weapon into the side of the bulldrome's head.

The bulldrome staggered away from Xera, shaking his head. The hit didn't do much to him, just stun him a little. A bullfango charged in after , seeing an opportunity for glory. His fellow followed soon after. Xera was looking away from either of them, focusing entirely on the bulldrome.

That wasn't her being stupid, she knew they were trying to flank her. But they weren't her concern, she _knew_ that the bulldrome was the one who hurt her Ryu, so there lay her focus.

"Come on," She taunted him. When the bullfangos rushed her, she rolled on air to avoid the razor tips of their tusks and only get hit by their bodies. She didn't count on how hard their skulls were, so she got hit a lot harder than she'd anticipated.

She pushed herself back up quickly. She didn't know much about these creatures, but if she were them it would be the time that she attacked. She was right. The bulldrome had turned around and was now rushing towards her.

She was lying on her sword, so with a massive effort, she pulled both her own weight and the weight of the sword up. Not very high, but as she rolled back, it went far enough to raise the point of the blade up about a foot.

The bulldrome charged forward, driving the blade into his neck. It wasn't a fatal blow though, not driving deep enough to actually sever anything of importance.

Xera could see that immediately, but at least it scared the bulldrome enough for it to back off a step, Xera followed i immediately though, not giving it a chance to recover.

She pressed the blade forward into its throat, hoping to strike some important organ or system and kill it without much more fighting.

But that was the exact moment that the bullfangos chose to intervene again. One slammed into her side, but the other was nowhere to be found. As she flipped from the impact, she glanced around to see if she could spot what had happened to it.

She found it, everywhere. There was no bullfango to be seen, only its innards strewn about Elric. The only reason it could be identified as having been the bullfango was that there were the creature's two tusks laying at his feet.

Elric was still curled around Ryuhime, checking pulse, or breathing, or something. Xera didn't know, so long as she was okay.

Xera turned back to focus on her own fight.

The bullfango came at again, so she rolled to the side to avoid its strike. At the conclusion of her roll, she lashed out and scored the creature's side.

That bullfango grew angry and did a quick turn once it reached the end of its run and charged again.

Xera was growing bored with this, if they were gonna attack her, they could at least make it fun. Then Ryuhime let out a weak cry of pain, and Xera's vision went blood red.

The bullfango charged, but when her vision changed, there was no outward change. Her eye color didn't change, no muscle alteration, no hair going wild; she still looked exactly the same. But the bullfango, and everything else in the area recognized the change in her.

The bulldrome grew frightened. Turning to run, it sprinted from the area. But it didn't get far. Xera gave chase. Elric knew that bulldromes were much faster than human hunters. Ryuhime knew that, unconscious as she was. The bulldrome knew it, he'd escaped many times before.

But Xera? She didn't know that. So she didn't accept it. When the bulldrome ran faster, she was still catching up with it, not having a problem keeping up as a matter of fact. It was no effort for her, because she didn't know that it was impossible.

When she caught up with him, she made him suffer for having harmed her Ryuhime. So badly did she hurt him, Elric himself had to turn away.

When she finished, she rushed over to Ryuhime. Blood dripped from her, painting her body in streams and strings hanging from her.

"Is she okay?" She near-begged Elric.

"She's fine, she's been awake for the past couple minutes, perfectly fine." He chuckled.

"And you couldn't tell me that?"

"Didn't wanna distract you."

"I'm fine, really." Ryuhime said from the ground. "He won't let me up until you kill them all."

"The other one ran off." Xera said, looking down. "You sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine, I'd be up, but he's holding me down." Ryuhime nodded at Elric's hand holding her shoulder down.

"What? I wanted to see what you could do on your own Xera." Elric justified his action.

"Don't risk Ryuhime." Xera said angrily.

"I didn't risk anything." Elric said, offrented at her mistrust. "I was ready to leap in and save you both at a moment's notice."

"You've done a lot of bragging about how good you are, but I have yet to see anything." Xera said. "I'm starting to think you're not all you're cracked up to be. Right Ryuhime?"

Ryuhime didn't want to get between the two of them, but she really didn't have a choice. So, caught between the two, she went with the obvious choice.

"I haven't seen anything impressive." She said, not really taking either side. But it was pretty obvious which side she was really on. She was staring down at Xera feet in submission.

Xera gloated and took her answer for a win. It kinda was, just not specific.

Elric just shook his head and helped Ryuhime to her feet. "Alright, I saw what Xera could do, but how about you now Ryuhime?" He said, eyeing her critically.

"Okay," She answered timidly.

Xera crossed her arms. "I still haven't seen you do anything."

"Who's team leader here?" Elric said with a turn of his wrist. "Who's the amazing champion that is the only reason we're here right now?"

"Me remember? I'm a champion too." Xera said confidently. "They just had to appease Ulf's sensitive demeanor." She was quoting what Ryuhime had told her before to satisfy her after losing the champion title. "Keep his ego in check, since I'm obviously the calmer between the two of us. He would've gotten pissed and pathetic."

The whole time she was talking, she made perfect eye contact with Ryuhime. She used Ryuhime's responses to check whether what she was saying made sense. Ryuhime nodded in support.

"Doesn't count, you still don't have the title." Elric said as he walked off, leading the group deeper into the jungle.

Xera and Ryuhime followed after him, what choice did they really have?


	12. Chapter 12

Xera was leading the team, with near-constant looks back at Ryuhime to see if she doing a good job. She honestly had little idea what she was doing, but with Ryuhime nodding and shaking her head, Xera was able to do an adequate job of leading them.

Elric noticed, but made no comments about it. It didn't really concern him. He was just seeing what Xera was able to infer on her own. It didn't seem to be all that much. She was definitely brutal in battle however.

Hopefully she'd do just as well against the gypceros.

She leaned down and felt the ground. It was pretty obvious which way the gypceros had gone. A trail of three toed footprints led the way deeper into the trees. Xera started to follow the trail, but then saw Ryuhime shaking her head. So she halted, confused.

She studied the footprints for several long moments, but couldn't figure it out. She had no idea why they wouldn't want to follow the footprints. They were obviously theropod footprints, she remembered the look of the iodrome's footprints of the last quest. But these were vastly wider, as befitted a much larger monster.

"I give up!" She burst out, startling Ryuhime enough that she fell back onto her butt. "Oops," She giggled. "Gotcha there." Xera helped her up. "Now what am I missing?" She said irritably.

Elric slapped his palm over his face. "I could at least pretend you were the one doing the work if you didn't mention it. Now I can't!"

Xera blushed. "Shut up!" She stamped her feet. "I don't know any of this stuff! I'm here to slay the damn things! Not find them! That's what I have her for!" She gestured at Ryuhime.

"What if she's not with you?" Elric asked reasonably.

"Why wouldn't she be?" Xera argued.

"Lost interest?" Elric's retort caused Ryuhime to shake her head vehemently in denial behind him.

Xera smiled. "She would never." Her confidence exuded out from her.

"Maybe she got injured?"

"I'd kill the damn thing."

"What if it fled?"

"It wouldn't escape." Xera's smug reply came as expected.

"Okay, what if she's recover." A vein was standing out in contrast to Elric's otherwise smooth skin. It made Xera think, did he even have scars? Of everything she'd seen of his body, she hadn't seen any, but that didn't mean much.

She'd only seen a very small amount of him, face, highest part of the torso, and neck. That's all she'd seen. And none of those spots had any discernible scars that she could tell.

Maybe he was like her. Xera's body had scars on it, but they were almost all invisible to be seen. They were either faint, too faint to be seen from any distant, or in areas that her clothes covered.

_He has to have scars! _She determined, unable to concede that he was better than both her and the leader of the White Knights. Whom Xera hoped to one day succeed. But she had a long way to go before she came anywhere near that. She had a long way to go until she even matched her parents.

She shook her head, clearing it of those tedious thoughts. Those were the kind of things that very well could end up with her or her teammates coming down with a bad case of a terminal illness. A bad case of the dead...

Elric turned to Ryuhime. "Alright, your go now sweetie." He chuckled. "Show us the way to go, Ms. Know-it-all." He bowed mockingly.

She blushed, and Xera fumed, folding her arms and turning away from the others. Ryuhime looked down in sadness, depressed that Xera was displeased with her.

"It's really simple." She began. Immediately after, she shut up, mentally berating herself. She just called Xera stupid, flat out, no recourse for it. How could she- Ryuhime! Top of the class!- how could she have not thought of that? How could she have been so goddamn stupid?

"Um, uh, well, it's, um." She could not think of a way to restart her statement, so she just threw up four fingers, blushing furiously.

"Four what?" Elric said, speaking as if she needed help.

"There's, um, only three toes there!" She stopped, dry swallowing to clear her throat. "Gypceros have four." She ducked her head, trying to hide herself from the other two's eyes.

Elric gestured for her to continue, but she couldn't. Doing so would involve shaming Xera for not knowing it. She couldn't bear to shame Xera in any way, doing so would be worse than death for her. She'd already done enough damage just by noting the information.

Xera stepped away, folding her arms across her chest. It really didn't bother her to be corrected by Ryuhime. It was only when she should have known the information beforehand that it distressed her when someone corrected her.

After all, Ryuhime was cute, Xera couldn't stay mad at her for long. Xera could barely stay mad at any girl for any length of time, the cuter they were, the less time she could spend. And nobody looked better than Ryu.

Ryuhime remained steadfastly quieted, refusing absolutely to do anything other than mumble a refusal. Elric tried to encourage her to speak.

Her response was a muffled, "Xera's supposed to."

Elric wiped his hand across his face in resignation and turned to Xera. "Lead on then." He said with a great bow and sweeping his arms to gesture back toward the path she'd already begun.

Xera started again, but halted her motion almost before it began. _Ryuhime said four toes. _She thought as she looked back down at the tracks. Sure enough, each of these prints only had three. She was chasing the wrong monster!

She stood tall, spinning in a circle to see if there were any other tracks in the area that she'd missed. None were immediately visible, but she doubted that she'd be lucky enough to find those tracks too.

She walked a quick circle around the tracks, gradually widening it, trying to find positive proof of the creature's being nearby. "We're nowhere it." She bemoaned. It was going to take them hours before she got to wet her blade.

She set off sighing about how long this was going to take. Elric followed diligently, already knowing where the creature would be, but this was all a test for Xera.

Ryuhime was the only one who saw the most important detail. As the other two walked off, she knelt down behind the bushes. Brushing leaves aside, she knelt down by the track. Three toes pointing forward, a single spike pointing behind. She almost immediately was able to guess with an intense amount of confidence for one with so little.

Elric was an idiot for taking them there. She hurried to catch up with the group. She didn't want to be alone with _that creature_ roaming around.

When she did catch up to the others, Xera had found the correct trail and was following it diligently. She was careful about it too, she kept looking to the sky, around them in the forest, and then back down to the ground, making sure that all three were consistent.

Meanwhile, Elric was meandering along the path, eyes half closed, sometimes fully closed, not really caring. He mostly stayed on the correct path, but he looked like a drunken fool. Ryuhime was sure that he was keenly aware of everything around him, prepared even should a monster appear unexpectedly.

Xera continued leading the way, more confident now that Ryuhime had rejoined their ranks. Ryu was working as a lucky charm, not actually doing anything to help her, but giving her confidence in her choices.

Finally they arrived at a clearing, not seeing any other monsters, which surprised Xera. Ryuhime had a grimace as this confirmed her fears. Elric's smile was confident, he knew what Ryu knew, but where she was fearful, he was hopeful.

"This is where the trail ends." Xera said, staring down into the clearing. She remembered the iodrome hunt, so she was careful about where she looked, making sure that it wasn't just camouflaging itself.

It didn't appear to be, so she started to stand to approach the center of the clearing. Elric laid a heavy hand on her shoulder and turned to Ryuhime for an explaination.

"You didn't look up." She mumbled, embarrassed. "It's a flying monster."

The noise from the creature could be heard now, but it was still some time before it would get there.

"Stay put," Elric ordered as he slipped out from the bush cover and approached where the creature would land.

Ryuhime was tempted to speak up about her findings, but she didn't want to alarm Xera. Maybe they would be able to escape without ever seeing _it._

She was afraid that the deviljho would kill one of them...

* * *

Sorry about taking so long with the update, but I've been having a lot of issues recently... Many of them psychological, which I considered to be more important than updating regularly.  
Anyway, read and review! Or comment if you just like talking with me!


	13. Chapter 13

Elric had no plan. He never had a plan though, which was his plan for how to deal with the gypceros. It would be a lot easier than hunting alatreon without a plan though. He ducked into a roll, coming to rest right behind the location where the gypceros would be landing. Underneath it, he dug a small hole and planted the small charge containing a pitfall trap.

A masterwork of technological achievement, the pitfall trap worked with beautiful precision. The explosive charge detonated and cleared room enough for the spines of the trap to drive into the ground. Along these spines were other smaller charges which then detonated and increased the subterranean opening. Several nets spread between the legs of the trap.

The gypceros flapped loudly, falling in heavy jerks. In flight and on the ground, it was just an awkward monster.

Elric pulled the longsword from his back. Taking a hopping step backwards. He glanced over to the girls to see that they were ready.

Xera's hands were wrapped tightly around her greatsword's hilt. Her eyes were focused on the bird wyvern, narrowed in concentration. She was squatted down behind a fallen tree trunk, legs spread to ease the position. Her arms were lifted awkwardly above her head to hold the shaft of her sword.

Ryuhime had a hand on either end of her weapon, but her eyes weren't glued to the monster, they were glued to a much more appealing location._ Xera's ass._ Elric really couldn't blame her. Xera had one hell of a body! But he wasn't interested. He saw the love and interest between the two of them and refused to get in the middle of that and screw it all up.

But if Ryuhime was too distracted by her _interests_ then she could pose a danger to herself and the rest of the team. He'd have a talk with her later, after the hunt. She needed to focus on the hunt when the hunt was in front of them. Her interests could wait until they had some time to themselves.

He nodded to the couple, signaling them to be ready for the attack. Xera nodded, Ryuhime jolted in surprise and flushed when she saw that he had seen what she had really been doing. She pulled the switchaxe from her back and tested the edge to cover her embarrassment. It was dull, pathetically dull, but as a switchaxe, it's sharpness wasn't a major requirement. It just had to hit really hard.

Ryuhime and Xera shared a quick look, but Ryu broke eye contact after only a few moments. She was still too embarrassed to allow Xera to see her.

The gypceros landed awkwardly, as it did all things. As soon as its feet touched the ground, the ground fell out from underneath its feet. It floundered around for a moment, trying to keep itself out of the hole.

There was no purchase for its feet to grab hold off. Without that purchase, there was no chance for the monster to keep itself out of the trap. As it passed below the threshold of the trap, the nets under the ground tangled around its legs and prevented it from freeing itself easily.

Elric rushed toward the creature, flipping his longsword out with a flair at the last moment. He only struck once, but his strike went clear through the body of the bird wyvern.

The blow staggered the great beast, slowing it down so both Ryuhime and Xera got a chance to assault it. Xera's greatsword dropped right on the gypceros's head. Ryuhime's blade struck it horizontally, right below its beak.

Both of the girl's blows bounced from it. Neither blade hit with enough force to penetrate. The gypceros roared in pain anyway, most likely only Elric's blade did any damage that actually hurt the beast.

Xera's attack, being bounced, pissed her off. She growled at the creature. Her growl caused it to flinch. Elric stopped his motions to watch. Xera had just scared a monster! He'd never heard of anything like this happening.

_Actually,_ he thought,_ I have once before._ He thought back to that encounter. He'd been getting recruited to an elite group of hunters. _The White Knights._ They were considered to be the ultimate hunters, the premier of the world.

One of the members, a feisty girl named Ashlyn, had a special detail about her. She had what was dubbed the 'heart of the monster.' Her soul was that of a beast's, she was attuned to the ways of the monsters. She was able to take a real punishment, and like Xera, she had an aura around her. When Ashlyn glared at a monster, and even moreso when they locked eyes, she entered a state. The monsters always backed down first.

Anybody who could make monsters flinch away had Elric's respect. He'd done it himself on a few occasions, but that was just through raw strength and skill. He didn't have the 'heart of the monsters.' He had only a hunter's body, and a hunter's heart, and a mind that was above average.

Ashlyn made monsters flee before her, she had stared down a deviljho and won. The deviljho backed away, head ducked.

The 'heart of monsters' was a rare occurrence. It was said that only one person in an entire generation was born with it. He doubted that, but it was rare enough to make the myth possible. There were probably more, but most probably died before gaining enough power to not die. Every year, hundreds of hunter recruits were massacred, annihilated by the ever growing population of monsters.

Elric knew this only too well. He was often called in to take care of large problems. Infestations, elder dragons. he was the cleaner. The White Knights had tried to recruit him because he was who he was. He was a king of hunters.

The hunter commissioners knew him well. He was their ace in the hole. Nothing beat him, he was the best hunter in the world, not that anybody would recognize the fact. To the public, in the eyes of everybody, the White Knights were the pinnacle, the best of the best.

They were wrong, Elric could ourhunt every member of the group, except maybe Akuma, the leader. Tethys was the most intelligent of all people, and Ratatosk, well Ratatosk was in the same boat as Elric.

They were both hunters of the wild. They were rough and ready brawlers, brute hunters. Elric held a disdain for the White Knights. They were too pompous for his liking. And male. Elric disliked other males.

Elric was startled from his reverie by a roar. A loud roar. A roar he recognized. A deviljho.

"Ladies, hurry this up!" He shouted at the pair as he drew his blade and ran off.

Xera and Ryuhime shared another look. They'd both heard the roar as well, but only Ryu knew what the roar was from. Xera only knew that it was loud and exhilarating. Her blood began to pump faster than ever before.

She didn't know what it was, but she wanted to hunt it."Ryu, you can finish up here right?" She asked. She didn't wait for an answer however. There was a _real_ monster out there, and she was determined to kill it.

Ryu just stood there, looking at the creature in the pitfall trap. Three hits so far? The gypceros was nowhere near to being ready to go down.

But she couldn't tell Xera that, otherwise she'd feel like she was abandoning Ryu. Ryu just flipped her blade around into axe form and rushed toward the monster. She lifted the axe head up to smash into the monster's chin.

After such a heavy blow, the monster's eyes glazed over and she saw and opportunity she couldn't pass. She threw the blade to her right as far as she could, holding it solely in her right hand before throwing all of the weapon's weight into the other direction.

It smashed the creature in the throat, and then she did the same from the other direction. She kept alternating the blows between her left and right hands.

The gypceros finally recovered and pulled itself from the hole. It flapped itself up a dozen feet above her head before lowering itself again. It was careful to avoid the area that it had just dragged itself out of.

Ryu leapt around the pit in several leaps and bounds to avoid falling in herself. The gypceros lifted its head to point up into the air. It bobbed its head above itself and Ryu threw herself to the ground, covering her face with her arm.

The head crest of the creature slapped hard against its nose. Ryuhime had known its plan and thus the blast of light didn't appear in her vision. She only waited a second before moving.

She charged to her feet, throwing herself flat again. Behind her, she heard a rush from the gypcero's head as it bobbed down to peck at her brutally. She pushed herself up again, taking a two handed grasp on her axe and switching it into sword mode.

The gypceros rushed at her, its wings and legs flailing out to the side as it charged, presenting a humorous appearance. She peered quickly over its body, calculating a path to defeat the creature.

Once she was affirmed, she charged it, throwing herself to the side at the last moment and whipping her arm to the side for her blade to hit the creature's ankle.

The gypceros fell forward onto its face, hitting hard. Before it could recover, Ryuhime mounted it from behind, lifting her weapon high above her head before dropping it down onto the crest.

The blow sparked the creature to lunge up, making Ryu go flying off, almost landing back in the pit. She could see that she was in for one hell of a battle.

* * *

Elric slashed down across the massive leg of the deviljho. It barely seemed to faze the creature. The cut wasn't even deep enough to make the creature bleed, the muscles were too taut underneath.

"Come on you bastard! Go down nice and easy for me." He asked the creature nicely.

His shock was total at what happened next. From out of nowhere, Xera leapt into the battle, slapping her greatsword against the deviljho's leg. Her attack bounced off, barely even indenting the flesh she hit.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He shouted at her.

"Killing a deviljho, how about you?" She replied sarcastically. She yelped in shock when she felt his foot plant against her backside and propel her forward beneath the creature.

She fell flat and was about to retort angrily when she saw what had happened. He'd pushed her forward because the deviljho had bite down to engulf her in its massive maw. He hadn't had an opportunity to avoid the attack and protect her, thus the deviljho had closed its teeth around his leg, lifting him high into the air.

It flipped Elric in the air before chomping on his torso next, waving its head wildly to the sides to tear Elric apart.

Elric was getting a headache, but luckily his armor was strong enough to withstand the assault. At least for some time. It wasn't, after all, that great a suit of armor. But it was his. He'd had it for too long to just abandon it now that he'd gotten access to better equipment.

He twisted in his awkward perch and stabbed down at the deviljho's eye. His aim was off by a lot because of the motion. Instead of stabbing through the soft goo that made up the eye, he hit the eye socket and felt the blade bite into the creature's skull.

The deviljho roared his pain, dropping Elric hard on his back. The slam knocked the wind from him, but he didn't let that bother him. While he recovered, he forced himself to rise again and attack.

He wasn't a moment too soon.

The deviljho had decided that between the two of them, he was the more dangerous of the pair. It was true, but Elric still worried for Xera. Deviljho were tricky little beasts, impulsive and impossible to predict.

As he stood and leapt to strike, the deviljho dropped a heavy foot down onto where Elric had just lain.

Xera continued her petty blows, ignored by the deviljho. Not one of her strikes caused it to flinch, it didn't even appear to take notice of her.

Elric fought the monster, veritably on his own, but it wasn't a fight. Elric mainly taunted it into attacking, and then lunging for vitals when it moved offensively. He'd had more than enough practice on deviljhos to know how to put them down easily. They had recently had a massive increase in population and had threatened the lives of all indigenous populations, from aptonoth to zuwaroposu, herbivore and carnivore alike.

And, as always, who do you think they called to save the day? It wasn't the White Knights, they were off on a hunt for a rumored elder dragon. Elric came and was paid royally for his work, but the fame was ignored, overshadowed by the return of the White Knights with their pitiful trophy.

Not that Elric wanted fame. He was happy saving lives and being him.

And right now, oh boy did he have to save a life. Xera was just out of the academy, not even _he_ or the White Knights hunted deviljho that soon out.

Xera was getting pissed. It was a visible aggression she exuded. "Nobody ignores me!" She roared, it cutting off into a growl midway through.

Even Elric halted a moment at the sound. The deviljho spun around and returned the growl, its tone quizzical.

Xera growled again, and the beast struck.

Elric, with the deviljho's back to him now, lunged forward and dug his fingers into two cuts he'd made earlier. With his grip affirmed, he twisted his body to the side and overbalanced the monster.

The deviljho fell hard and the ensuing struggle was clouded with dust that arose from its collapse. Elric fought dirty in the darkness, his eyesight not needed during this battle. His talents made it rather easy for him to battle without seeing his opponent.

Xera was struck dumb. Elric had just _pushed_ the deviljho over. She was so astonished that she couldn't focus enough to get in any final blows.

When the smoke cleared, Elric had cleaved the mighty head from off the deviljho's body and was resting upon it, arms flung askew and drooping down the sides.

"I suppose we'd better make sure your girlfriend's still alive." He panted.

Xera turned crimson and muttered. "She not my girlfriend." Before she realized his implications. "Oh dammit!" She turned and sprinted back to where she had last seen Ryu.

Elric took another moment to gather his strength before climbing to his feet and following.

* * *

They arrived to a scene neither had expected. Ryuhime was sitting next to the gypceros and leaned back upon it, covered in a gruesome layer of blood. Neither being appeared living.

The gypceros had several severe injuries lining the soft tissues across its neck and many more around the head crest, which appeared broken horrifically.

Ryu appeared worse off. Deep crimson marks crossed her body. Wherever those marks weren't a red sheen coated her. There were only a very few areas which weren't stained bloody.

Xera rushed across the clearing to Ryu's side and dove upon her. Ryu squeaked in surprise. Xera had feared that Ryuhime had died. As it turned out, she was just resting up from the battle. Elric came over as well and checked on the object of the hunt.

"Um, X-Xera? You're hurting me." Ryuhime said quietly.

Xera pulled away immediately. "Sorry."

Ryuhime blushed and looked into the forest. "I-I didn't say it was unpleasant."

Xera just stared at her for a moment before wrapping her arms even tighter around Ryuhime.

Elric patted Ryuhime on the top of the head saying, "Good work, I didn't expect for either of you to want to capture the thing. Most new hunters would rather kill."

"You captured the gypceros?" Xera's eyes tried to escape her head. "By yourself?"

"Well, nobody else was around..."

"Let's load up and get out of here. I have a feeling your ranks are gonna improve quite noticeably after this. Plus, you know, the tons of zen you'll recieve." He picked up the deviljho head, which he had brought back with him and tossed it over his shoulder.

He whistled and a team of feylenes rushed in to bind and lift the gypceros.

"Let's head back then." Elric laughed as he headed back to the aptonoth cart.

* * *

**Alright people, don't worry I haven't forgotten y'all! Here's the next chapter, and it's longer than the normal ones. Please be patience, there is lemony goodness coming, like said when i rated this M, but I'm not going to throw it in unworthy. Next chapter will not come without reviews, I need y'all to make the decision for me. Next chapter, more Ryu, Xera, and Elric, or do we want another perspective? Like Ulf/Nailah, or the White Knights? Remember, no chapter without reviews!**


	14. Chapter 14

Nailah giggled as Ulf ran his hands over her stomach. His left hand was just above the line of her panties while his right was currently edging up under her top. "Ulf." She whined. "Either play now or stop teasing me."

"But it's so much fun." Ulf protested. "Besides, it's not like you complain about it."

"I just did." Nailah protested as his fingers delved deeper. Her face was flushed with blood as the lust filled her.

"Was that really a complaint?" Ulf teased as he pulled his hands away from her completely.

Nailah moaned as her knees quivered. "You can't tease me and then leave!" She complained again.

"But you just said not to?"

"Or to play now!"

"We're hunting a monster! We can't play!"

"It's not that hard a hunt. Just a-" Nailah moaned. "Wh-what did we set out hunting?"

Ulf laughed. "I don't know about you," He pulled his away from their journey and reached up, cupping both of her firm breasts, "These are the only monsters I'm hunting."

"Well in that case." Nailah spun quickly and slipped her hands under Ulf's waistband. "There's a monster of my own I'm after." She giggled as she began to drop to her knees.

Their moment was rudely interrupted by a roar. "Oh right, we came out to hunt a royal ludroth." He looked to the sky. "And he just happened to stumble across our hunts."

Nailah looked disappointed as she stood erect.

Ulf waved her aside as he pulled his longsword from his back. "This guy really pissed me off. I really wanted you right now, that would've been a thousand times better than any hunt."

He sighed. "Let's go big boy," As he stepped up to combat. The royal ludroth leaned back on its hind legs before dropping down to maul him with its claws. He didn't flinch away, just flipped his blade from his shoulders and held it out in front of him.

The claws hit the metal and came nowhere near his skin. As it pushed at him, he slid backwards along the mud, his feet having no traction. He waiting just another moment before acting.

Tucking into a dive, he pushed up with his sword. He ended up right under the creature as it fell. As its body touched upon the ground, he tucked into the side, just avoiding the blow. He thrust directly forward with his blade, piercing deep into the creature's body. Despite having a basic rookie weapon, so much power was in his mighty arms that the blade penetrated deeply into the creature's side.

He then pressed down on his weapon's hilt to mess up the creature's insides. It flicked up and he could feel it as the organs writhed about the blade.

The ludroth was in pain, but it was far from dead. It hopped a bit away and then propelled itself back towards him, rolling onto him as it did so. Ulf fell to the ground under the beast, the force driving the hilt of his sword into his gut as it did so.

It ended up with Ulf having to take the full weight of the creature on the small pivotal point of his sword's hilt. He knew that that was going to end up in a bruise, a large, bitterly painful one. Luckily the creature continued rolling, coming back to its feet on the other side of Ulf.

Ulf rose with a cough, holding his hand out to Nailah to forestall her rushing to his side. She was very predictable. "I'm fine, just sit there and look pretty."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he both regretted it and loved it. Nailah took his words to mean to look even sexier. So she slipped her hands under her top and curled her fingers in the material. With a quick jerk, she removed the article of clothing. A few seconds later, she did the same thing to her panties.

She stood naked, a pinnacle of perfection, all of the beauty of the female body drawn up into a single person. Ulf's eyes were locked onto her, he was unable to focus on the battle. Nailah breathed in and her breasts were pushed out. Ulf's eyes locked onto the little nubs pointing out from the fleshy mounds.

As such, he was completely unprepared for the royal ludroth's attack. The ludroth swung its tail in a wide circle, slamming it hard into the side of his ribs. He flew.

The force of the blow made him fly backwards, skipping along the ground on his back. He sat up and glared at the monster. "Bastard, striking when I'm not looking? Sorry that I had a better view."

The ludroth was approaching Nailah for its next attack. It meant something completely different to Ulf however. "You bastard!" He ran forward and grabbed the creature's tail in his left hand. His right was still holding onto his blade. "Looking at my naked Nailah! You're dead!" He roared.

He pulled tight on the tail, then slashed down with his blade, severing the appendage in a single blow. He took the appendage and tossed it to Nailah, for her to take with them when they left.

She picked it up and held it near her chest, pressing it up between her breasts. She slowly slid her tongue around the tip of the tail, sensuously nibbled around it. Ulf's jaw dropped. His eyes were locked onto the quick flickering of Nailah's tongue. As such, he was caught off-guard by the ludroth once again.

The ludroth swung around, head butting Ulf and sending him flying. He bounced on his back and flipped facedown. Luckily, he landed in the mud, otherwise he would have ended up with a problem between rocks and his hard place.

"Nailah!" He shouted at her.

"Nailah?" She answered with her name.

"What?" Ulf was confused. "Why did you just say your name?"

"Because you said it!" Nailah protested.

"I was trying to get your attention!"

"I'm paying attention." Nailah was more confused than Ulf now.

"Nailah!" Ulf screamed.

"Nailah?" Came her response.

"Stop that!"

"Stop what?"

"Nailah!"

"Nailah!"

Ulf pushed himself up, glaring at the ludroth. "I swear I'm gonna beat you girl!" He called to Nailah.

"Yes please!"

Ulf sighed. "Just stop teasing me with that damn tail!"

"You don't have to swear! You just had to say to stop sucking it." Nailah answered. She dropped the tail down and rubbed it quickly, accidentally, across her slit. She shivered in pleasure.

Luckily, Ulf wasn't watching when she did so. Otherwise he would have been helpless when the ludroth lunged down, trying to bite his head off.

As it was, he was able to dodge with relative ease. "You're looking at my Nailah!" He shouted at the monster. At some point during the battle, he had lost his weapon, but he didn't bother looking for it.

"You're dead. You're dead in more ways than you can think of!" He charged forward, baring his knuckles. The ludroth lunged forward to snap his head off between its teeth. He waited until the last moment before he moved.

A simple sidestep and then he dropped an elbow onto the creatures head. He then grabbed a fist full of the spongy mane and pulled himself up to mount the thing behind its crest. He grabbed the other side of its crest and got a firm grip. Lifting his right hand high into the air, he roared. He violently dropped his fist down into the monster's eye. With a sickening squelch, the creature bobbed to the side in pain.

He pulled his hand up again and repeated his actions. On the tenth blow, the creature fell to the ground. It was still alive and well, really pissed off now though. Ulf rode it to the ground and pulled himself forward to grab around its mouth.

He grabbed one side of its jaws with each hand, the right curled around the creature's upper jaw, while the left did the same to its lower. He gave forth a superhuman effort, prying the monster's jaws apart. It was a difficult task. Slowly however, he did succeed in forcing the creature's mouth open.

His muscles bunching brutally, he managed to keep pulling and pushing, forcing even more open space between the jaws until with a tremendous _crack_, the creature fell.

And so fell another monster to the prodigious champion, the one who punched out a congalala, and who now pried a royal ludroth's mouth too far and broke it. He brushed some mud from his body and turned to his girl.

And the prodigious Ulf who has defeated all things before him without needing a blade was felled in a single instant. "Nailah!" He shouted.

Nailah jumped in surprise. She hadn't seen anything wrong with what she doing. Pleasure felt good, so anything that gave pleasure must be good. She had put the tail on the ground and mounted it, slowly rubbing her body down along its length. The ribbed piece was made out of the spongy material as was most of the ludroth's body. Thus, although it looked painful with the ridges and ribbed segments along its length, it was actually squishy and cool, soft and enjoyable.

She rubbed her groin along the tail piece, continually soaking the spongy material.

"Nailah stop that!" Ulf roared. Nailah's face was flushed with arousal, and only moments before she had been gasping and moaning from it. To Ulf, it was ungodly sexy, but she was doing it in public, where anybody could stumble across her.

Nailah looked down at the item which was giving her so much pleasure. She then looked up to Ulf. "But it feels nice?" She said simply.

"Nailah!" Ulf pointed at the ground next to him. Nailah leaned forward, falling onto all fours and crawling forward to his side. She swayed as she crawled, moving her hips in a sensuous wave, rolling from side to side.

Ulf hadn't anticipated that as her reaction, but he was definitely not complaining about it. "Good girl." He chuckled.

"Ruff!" She replied. He reached down and pulled her up by her upper arm in a single motion.

"Goddamn, girl, you are perfect. Beautiful, sexy, naughty, and most important of all, mine." He leaned down and kissed her deeply. "I am so damn lucky!"

Nailah responded by moving south, kissing along his jawline and moving to his neck. She sucked and chewed, giving him a tantalizing taste of what was to come. As soon as they got a bed near them.

"Go get dressed," Ulf moaned out. As she turned away from him, he pinched her ass, to which she responded with a lovely grunt.

She stood by her clothes, and with a look cast over her shoulder, bent at the waist to pick them up, giving Ulf a glorious view of her firm, taut hindquarters.

This look pushed him over the top. He couldn't hold himself back anymore, in only a few scarce seconds, he was right behind her, pushing his middle finger into her moist and ready slit.

Nailah moaned, stumbling over her words as she asked, "W-we're in the op-open."

Normally this bothered Ulf, but in this case, she'd just done too much to let it bother him. He was so aroused that a herd of aptonoth rushing to crush him underfoot wouldn't stop him anymore. "I guess that means that we'd better be pretty quick. It's all your fault. Next time, wait until we can at least find a cave."

Nailah shook her head, but in response to what, neither of them knew. At the moment, the only thing that she was able to comprehend as existing was the finger invading her most private regions. Ulf's finger curled up inside her, causing her breath to explode from her.

"Hmm, if I didn't know better, I'd say that something was arousing you here." Ulf teased her.

"P-please." Nailah gasped out.

Ulf removed his finger and dropped his shorts, entering her in one quick thrust. Nailah was pushed forward with the force of his push, and her mouth gaped open as she moved. Her breasts swayed as he she steadied in place. Ulf rocked his hips back until he was almost completely out of her, then slammed back into her.

Nailah thrust forward with another gasp. "S-so big." She nearly whimpered. Ulf just held himself inside of her, pressed to his maximum within her, spreading her to her fullest. He wrapped his hands firmly around her waist and pulled her tight against his groin, filling her with his full length.

Nailah shivered along her length, muscles spasming in little waves of pleasure as she tightened around him. Ulf moaned in pleasure. Nailah began to tighten and pull away from him, causing him to hiss out his exhale. Nailah began rocking back and forth, milking Ulf for all she was worth. Ulf could barely manage to hold out against her onslaught.

"Bad Nailah!" He hissed through clenched teeth. If she kept going like this, he wouldn't last more than a few seconds longer, so he took initiative. He pulled completely out of her, to which she sighed sadly. Her sigh didn't have long.

With a massive effort, he plucked her right off the ground and spun her about. She immediately threw her legs around him and pulled him tight against her. She began to slide herself up and down along his body, as much as her limited control would allow her. She pushed her wetness along Ulf's length, grinding their sexes together.

Ulf groaned and pulled her even higher. Nailah reached down and grabbed him, aligning them for his thrust. He drove deeply, and Nailah cried out in pleasure as her muscles clenched around him in ecstasy. Ulf himself wasn't far away from that point. With her tightness clenching around him, his own body began to shiver and he fired his load deeply into Nailah. Both of them moaned in pleasure.

Ulf's legs almost gave out on him as the sensations flooded through him. Nailah wiggled away, pulling herself off of him and falling to her knees in front of him.

She ducked her head down and engulfed his entirety down her throat. She sucked his rod dry, enjoying the feel and taste of the mixed juices. She cleaned his tool to the best of her abilities and looked up at him with joy in her eyes. She pulled herself off of him and, keeping her eyes locked to his, reached down between her legs and cupped her hand, to gather Ulf's fluids as they ran out of her.

She lifted her hand and brought the edge of the cup to her lips, sliding the majority of her gift down her throat. She then licked all of the remainder off of her hand. "Yummy!" She purred.

Ulf chuckled, "Go get dressed girl before I do that again."

"Why would I get dressed with those stakes?"

"Just do it."

"Okay," Nailah giggled as she moved to where her clothes lay. She bent again at the waist, giving Ulf a glorious view of her ass as well as a peek at her pretty slit he had just so thoroughly explored.

With slow deliberate motions she slowly drew her panties up, taking her time in catching all of the liquid along her thighs in the act. The breast wrap went on in the same way, but there was no liquid to catch.

Once dressed, she turned back to Ulf. He'd dressed himself back up and awaited her. "I have a surprise for you when we get back to the house." He chuckled, draping an arm over her shoulders and curling it into a hug.

"Oh and what kinda surprise is it?" Nailah wiggled against him.

"A lot more of that, and anything you want!"

* * *

**There you go everybody! A new chapter! And with Lemon too! Enjoy, read/review por favor**


	15. Chapter 15

Xera was in a chipper mood on the way back. Although she hadn't actually killed either creature, she had fought against a deviljho! She'd already determined that that was going to be her first armor set. And with all of the stuff she'd gathered, she'd managed to get many pieces of what she needed. Unfortunately, Elric had already spoken to her and let her know that the chances were that she would be affected negatively by hunting one far too soon.

He was going to work his hardest to make sure that Xera was allowed to keep all of her supplies. She had worked really hard at getting them after all.

It was of no concern to her though. If worst came to it, if they really did take her supplies from her, he'd give her items he'd personally acquired. It wasn't like it was a real loss for him. He had more stuff from the creatures than many other hunters could imagine. At this point, he usually just had the guild convert it to zen, as that was a lot easier to keep track of.

Xera didn't care in the least about any way they wanted to punish her for ignoring the regulations. She was just happy if she was allowed to simply continue hunting after her blatant disregard of the established rules and going directly against Elric's commands to stay back.

Ryuhime was quiet the entire trip. Xera and Elric both spoke up quite a lot, engaging one another in conversation, talking about the battle, talking about future battles, that sort of thing. Ryuhime never once spoke up during their talks however. Both Xera and Elric overlooked this detail, too engrossed in their talks. There were a lot of interesting details being tossed casually about from Elric, useful little snippets of information that Ryuhime clung to desperately. She needed information. Right now, she was in a rather tough spot.

Ryuhime was a complete pacifist. Excluding her murdering Ivan in self-defense, she'd never actually hurt anything before. And she still felt guilt about what she'd done to Ivan. It wasn't like she'd had a choice right? He was about to rape her! She couldn't lose it that way...

But still, killing him had been hard on her. And now Xera was casually talking to Elric about killing the deviljho! And killing dozens of other creatures as well. _Killing_ them! Ryuhime hadn't even been able to kill her own target. She'd had to resort to capturing the gypceros. She just hadn't been able to land the final blow. She was just a coward. How was she supposed to keep up with Xera and Elric when they were off to try to slaughter a monster? What if the job were specifically to slay the monster? She wasn't sure if she could do it. She was pathetic...

Despite the depressing thoughts racing through her mind, she still had on an even, placid face to keep Elric and Xera from divining any information from her countenance.

Xera was boasting of her part in the fight, small though it had been. She knew that Elric already knew all of the details about the battle, but she didn't Ryuhime to miss out on any of the information. In addition, she didn't want Elric to tell the story in an unflattering way for her, like, with the truth. Her own version of the story would be much more interesting, if not as accurate.

She tried to stay close to the truth, but instead of the monster turning and staring curiously at her, it turned in shock. Instead of her weapon bouncing harmlessly off of it, she did some heavy blows that tore skin and doused the world in crimson.

Ryuhime knew that Xera was exaggerating. She wasn't stupid. Based on the description, Xera herself should be painted in blood, but she was splattered with a very fine mist, almost unseen.

Elric was much more covered, but based on his contributions to the story, and how Xera stated his role, he was much more covered that he right to be. According to the stories, he basically sat on the sidelines and watched for the majority of the fight, simply stepping in to regain the creature's attention and allowing Xera more time to hurt it. And of course the finishing blow. Xera didn't try to dismiss his part in that action. She knew that Ryuhime wouldn't buy that for even half a second.

They finally arrived back at Loc Lac. Their first stop from the gate was to the guild area and to sell off the corpses. Several pieces were returned to them, processed and presented nicely. Quick and cheap.

The system was rather elegant. The entire trip from the hunting grounds, into the city, to the guild, and then back to Elric's house, Xera continued to tell and retell her story. Each telling actually changed slightly from the one before. It was so slight that even Elric couldn't always identify the location of the alteration, but Ryuhime had an intelligence unmatched. She remembered each telling perfectly, and simply compared them to see how much difference there was. She had to admit, Xera was actually staying relatively consistent, with only small differences. But those small differences were beginning to add up.

Elric went along with it, supporting each variation unconditionally. Once they arrived at his house however, it was time to head back into business. "Okay you two."

Xera was cut off midsentence, but was rather nonplussed about the interruption. Ryuhime was kinda glad about the break in the monotony of the stories. Not that she wasn't enjoying listening to Xera, but it was getting very weary listening to the same thing over and over.

"Now, we've got a couple of options. We can either leave off another hunt, and spend the day enjoying the city; or I can take you guys out on another kinda mission with little danger on it." Elric explained.

"Another little danger? Like the one we were just on?" Ryuhime questioned.

"That wasn't exactly a walk in the park." Xera agreed. "We took out three dangerous monsters. Two of which are outside of our rank! That was a badass mission, and we're badasses for doing them!"

"You obviously don't go for walks in the same parks that I do. That was nothing. We're eventually going to do missions in which we take out several deviljho and other major monsters, on the _same hunt. _So you'd better be up to doing some quick growing. I'm thinking by next week we'll be going after your first _real_ elder dragon hunt."

"Next week!?" Ryuhime and Xera shouted in unison.

"Yeah, I think you'll be ready by then. So what's your choice?"

Xera looked over to Ryuhime and nodded. "Off on another job it is then." She decided for the both of them.

Elric nodded in pleasure, glad that they weren't going to be slackards. "Then I already know what our next job's gonna be. We're gonna go out on an exploring mission, get you more used to some of the more extreme locations. Sound like a plan?"

"Sure, seems fine." Xera said.

At this point, he just assumed that Xera was speaking for both of them, since it appeared that Ryuhime only spoke every so often, usually only in response to a direct question. Or when she was startled. It was okay though, monster hunting had a lot more to do with action than words, and she certainly seemed capable of that.

"Fifteen minute recup then, and we'll head out." He walked into his house, rubbing his open hand on Xera head and messing up her hair as he passed.

Luckily, Xera's hair was thick and black, and almost nothing could happen to it to really mess it up, at least for any longer than it took her to shake her head and realign it. "Ass." She called him as he passed, but there was still a smile on her face.

Ryuhime saw the smile and had to fight to keep her composure. She couldn't believe that Elric and Xera were already in a relationship, they'd barely known each other for what? Two days? She looked down to her feet and sighed softly.

"Come on Ryu! Let's go explore Elric's place!" Xera said enthusiastically. She started pulling on Ryuhime's arm, dragging her into the building.

Ryuhime followed, not even trying to escape. Despite Xera's attraction to Elric, she had eyes only for Xera. She almost tripped as Xera dragged her up the stairs, but she managed to keep her feet. Once on the second floor, Xera ran down the hall to a huge, grandly crafted double doorways that towered above both of their heads. She barged through the doorway.

The door burst open and was caught by Elric. Xera stopped for a moment. "I-I suppose this is, um... your room?"

"This is your room. I figured that the room would appeal to you, at least more than myself and Ryuhime." He looked past her to the much shorter Ryuhime, "Yours is the one next door, much less extravagant. Mine is the room upstairs. Feel free to visit whenever."

Ryuhime blushed, knowing exactly what he meant and who he was saying that for. Xera just shrugged it off as Elric being Elric. Elric left them then, to allow them to explore her room while he headed up to him own room.

Elric was right, Xera did love her room. The first act she did in her new room was to run forward and throw herself onto the bed, bouncing up and down a few times on the luscious fabric. It was lush and extravagant, and soft! She was used to sleeping on a cold hard bedroll or simply on the floor. She patted the bed to invite Ryuhime to join her.

Ryuhime did so, slowly.

"Come on Ryu, it's comfy isn't it?"

"Um, yeah, I guess so." She replied timidly.

Xera overlooked Ryuhime's lack of enthusiasm. She was loving the bed, and the room, most everything actually. Elric's house was amazing!

She stood up and ran about the room again, exploring every niche of the area. There were numerous fun little locations to be found. And in several of them, she found several random items to take. Obviously, Elric took great care of all of his stuff. She picked up seven potions and an antidote in only a few seconds of searching. Whatever, she'd take his scraps if he didn't want them.

She scooped them up and deposited them in her pouch for their next mission, just in case.

Ryuhime gasped in shock. "You can't take those, they aren't yours!"

"Oh hush you." Xera waved it off. "I think it's obvious that he doesn't care. Plus he's filthy rich! He probably has so much that he give out hundreds of everything daily!"

"You still should at least get his permission." Ryuhime sulked.

"Fine, c'mon!" Xera said as she opened the door.

"Wh-what do you mean 'c'mon'?" Ryuhime stuttered. "You're the one who wants his stuff, you're the one who has to get his permission!"

"And you're the one who told me I had to, come on!" She beckoned once more. Ryuhime submitted, as both of them knew that she would.

Xera raced upstairs, waiting at the top for Ryuhime to catch up. "Ready?" She asked as she grabbed the knob to what she assumed was Elric's room. Her assumption turned out to be right, but she hadn't expected what she saw.

Elric hung from the ceiling by his feet, which were looped through some rope connected on both ends to a beam across the room. His armor was stacked on a body rack of to the side. This was their first _real_ opportunity to look him once over. And it was actually a really impressive vision. Elric epitomized the essence of what was commonly seen as masculinity. Stripped to his waist and covered in a layer of sweat, both Ryuhime and Xera blushed at the sight. Even though they both were quite sure of their attraction to the same gender, Elric was impressive.

His long blond hair fell in loose tangles down. Every inch of the naked flesh that revealed itself was corded hard with rippling muscles. As he pulled himself up into a curl, the entire length of his body was revealed. Under the gleam of sweat, his body was marked thoroughly with scar tissue. All of that scar tissue however was on the front of his body however. Almost none of the scars were on his back.

That told both Ryuhime and Xera a lot about him. With all of his scars on his front, it told them both that he feared none of the monsters he hunted. He never turned away from them. And more, none of the scars was very deep, most of them were actually barely visible. He was clearly too good to be injured very often.

His muscles trembled as he pulled himself up again. "Enjoying the view or is there something I can help you with?"

Ryuhime squeaked and flushed almost across her entire body, Xera blushed, but not nearly as fully. "I wanted to know if you wanted the random items thrown around the room? Or can I keep them?"

"I've taken everything of mine out of the room." Elric answered.

Xera turned and stuck her tongue out at Ryuhime. "Told you."

Elric raised himself up again, and then did some maneuvering as he disengaged his legs and somehow managed to land with both of his feet firmly on the floor. He swung his arms a few times to ensure his body's looseness. "You both ready? Check your rooms out nice? Like 'em?"

"Um, act-" Ryuhime tried to speak up at the same time that Xera did.

"I _love _it!" Xera exclaimed. "It's so soft and amazing!"

"I'm glad you like them." Elric chuckled, "Ready to go on another hunt?"

"Yes!" Xera beat Ryuhime again, cutting off her protest that she hadn't had an opportunity to look at her own room. "Let's do it! What are we hunting now?"

"I haven't the foggiest. Remember, we're just going out to watch another group out hunting. Show you the higher echelons." He walked over to the massive windows along one wall and stepped out onto the terrace. "Just give me a second and we'll all head down to the guild." Outside, he pulled the top off of a large barrel to the side and dunked his head in. He pulled out with a sweep of his head, sending water in a wave from his hair.

With his hair wet, they were able to really see its full length. And boy, it was long. Far longer than either Xera or Ryuhime allowed their hair to grow. With its fullest length revealed, it reached down to his lower back. Even without actually feeling it, it was clearly silky and smooth.

He shook his head, casting some final drops to fall before turning and walking back in. "We really need to get you two armor." He said as he pulled his helmet from the rack.

* * *

Elric did some sweet talking with the guild sweetheart and was given the information about another group's hunt. Completely illegal, but he _was _Elric after all.

A few minutes later, they were well on the journey to the north. "So you know how the guild puts time limits on the quests?" Elric asked mundanely.

"Um, yeah?" Xera questioned.

"You know that they mean absolutely nothing right? That's more a measurement of how long they expect you to survive. If the time limit expires, they'll send out another team soon enough to pick up where you left off. That's why there's no worries about time on these more difficult missions. There's usually not another team crazy enough to try for an Elder dragon. Those behemoths will take out a hundred hunters with ease. We'll be after them soon enough don't worry."

Ryuhime was first to sense the difference in the temperature. She felt it first as a tightening of her nipples and then a breeze across her body.

Xera soon followed with the same sensations. Neither of them were bothered by the slight chill yet, but the temperature steadily dropped faster and faster.

When they finally hit snow, Elric turned a circle and spread his arms wide. "Ladies, welcome to the tundra!" He chuckled.

Within a very few moments of their arrival, both Ryuhime and Xera were shivering from the cold. Xera was busily watching Ryuhime's body for the natural reactions her favored part of the female form had in response to the cold. And fortunately for her, Ryuhime's body did not disappoint.

It was only when Elric spoke up that she realized her own body would be reacting in the same way. "A little cold there ladies?"

Xera responded with a well aimed sweep from her sword, slapping him hard in the chest with her greatsword. "Asshole!" She nearly shrieked.

Elric chuckled at the hit as he took a step back to keep his balance. "Not what I meant. I meant that neither of you brought hot drinks did you?"

Ryuhime lifted a hand, but Xera spoke up over her, drawing the attention back to herself again. "Why would we have brought them! You didn't even tell us where we were going! We could have just have easily have been heading to the desert! If you want us to be prepared, we need to know what to be prepared for!"

"Actua-" Ryuhime was cut off again.

"The best hunters are the ones who are prepared for every situation. Look at me, I have my armor at all times, and it always keeps me at a proper temperature." Elric explained to Xera. "Both heat resistant, light reflective, and solid bound and reinforced against the cold.

"Y-you are s-such a nerd!" Xera insulted him.

He feigned offense. "Just for that, you can't have any of my hot drinks."

"You can hav-" Ryuhime began to offer her some of her hot drinks, but once again she was cut off. She was starting to not see a reason to even bother trying to speak.

"Okay, fine, I'm sorry." Xera said. "Can I have one now?"

"Yeah fine. Ryuhime? You need one too?"

"Still a nerd." Xera said immediately after grabbing the drink out of his hand.

Ryuhime didn't bother answering. As she expected at this point, nobody followed up on his question. She just drank her hot drink and kept silent. Obviously, Elric and Xera were so enamored with one another, she had just faded into the background. _As long as Xera's happy,_ she thought sullenly. While she was happy that Xera was happy, she wished that Xera was happy with her.

Xera downed one of the drinks and sighed in relief as the warmth slid through her veins, invigorating her and flowing from her stomach up and out to all of her extremities. It was a tickling, fiendish sensation that slid through her first from within, and then later it seemed to even wrap around her from without as well. It was extremely pleasant.

"Now to find my friends." Elric said, leading the way into the depths of the tundra.

* * *

**Sorry about how long it's taken me to write, but honestly...I haven't really had any motivation to do...well anything except roleplay online...Guess I really just want to escape being me... Anyway, read/review, or whatever...**


	16. Chapter 16

**Time for a dump posting! A chapter for each of my stories! RxR Everybody! You know I live for reviews! And Happy Halloween!**

* * *

A great roaring lifted in the air through the tundra. The roar echoed through the emptiness, reverberating across the stones and ice. Xera's eyes lit up with excitement. She was already back in hunt mode, starting to pull her blade from her back and move in the direction of the roar.

Elric grabbed the handle of her weapon before it could come out of its sheath and held her back. "Remember, we're only here to watch for right now. Not participate in this hunt. This is a very high up mission. And there's absolutely no guarantee of anything. If I tell you to run, you had better do it. There's absolutely no way that I can guarantee your safety right now, or up until we head home. If I say something, you _will _do it, immediately." He commanded.

"But-" Xera tried to protest.

"Immediately, no questions, no buts, no nothing, or else I will drop you from my team immediately. And then it'll be you two in the city by yourself, and I'll go back to one of the villages to make another team to save the world."

"Fine." She sulked.

"Don't worry, this won't take very long." He laughed. "If I know them, they're just starting to wrap it up now."

He started to walk off. Ryuhime didn't even bother to say anything at this point. It was starting to appear as if every time she started to say something, one of the other two decided that there was something of absolutely importance that needed to be said right then.

Elric led them to a massive overhang. They looked down from a huge cliff, which could easily be fatal should they slip and fall. On the plateau below them, a group of four hunters were facing down a matching number of white monsters with long sabered teeth. Three huge creatures, easily three times the size of any one of the hunters. The fourth was smaller, but much more streamlined, looking even graceful as it leapt around.

The four hunters were intimidating to say the least. Two males and two females. The two girls and one of the guys, the much larger one, were dressed in completely white armor, while the smaller of the two wore black armor, with red trimmings. At least, Xera hoped that it was only armor. He honestly looked like a full on demon. Large horns protruded from the top of his head, with smaller spikes on both his forearms and lower legs.

Even from the huge distance they were at right now, every detail of him was perfectly visible. The others were blurs from the distance, even the monsters were blurred, but the black shelled one was perfectly clear. It was as if he was magnified, and every time she tried to look away, Xera found her attention inexplicably drawn back to him.

"Barioths," Ryuhime whispered quietly.

"What?" Xera spun on her.

For a moment, Ryuhime didn't answer, expecting Elric to speak up before she was able to. When she finally did, it was extremelly hesitant. "Th-those are barioths. The Ice Fanged Wyvern."

"How the hell do you know anything about this?"

"Um, I-I paid at-tention during academy."

"I did too, but I don't remember anything about anything like this."

"I a-also did some hours in the library studying, as well as never missing a day. The entire ninety-seventh day of our second to last year was devoted exclusively to studying them. You were sick that day, I came over afterwards with a few notebooks about what was in class and some soup. I left you the notebooks, did you ever get around to reading them?"

"Um, yes?" Xera didn't even remember th-wait yes she did! Ryuhime had looked so cute as she brought the soup and notebooks. Xera had looked at them, groaned in pain, and then ignored them. They were almost certainly still lying around her house.

"That's a lie and we all know it." Elric laughed and patted her on the head. She growled, but he kept moving and gestured down to the tundra below them. "Ladies, may I introduce you to the White Knights? My former allies."

"No way." Xera struck her arms out in sweeping motions to declare her disbelief more emphatically. "There's no freaking way that you're friends with the most powerful hunters. That's where I'm calling bullshit."

"You aren't understanding me. I'm not trying to say that at all. I'm telling you that the White Knights are friends with the most powerful hunter." A devil's grin showed how much he believed what he said.

Down on the tundra, the battle was clearly one sided. The barioths were already turning more red than white. The black armored man suddenly stopped one of the barioths cold. He grabbed both of the nearly five-foot long saber fangs and twisted its head down to touch the ground. The barioth screamed a protest, but as it touched down the armored man punched it back, securing his lock on it.

With one hand still holding tight onto the saber tooth, he reached down and pressed the monster's lower jaw down. He pulled the jaws apart to allow room for him to fit his head in between the deadly teeth.

His first attempt to go through with it and actually stick his head in there made the barioth aggressive and try to remove the head from his shoulders. He let go with his bottom hand and backhanded the monster, before he opened the jaws again. This time, the monster seemed almost afraid of him as he slipped his head into the orifice.

"Is he really-ew." Xera shivered as the man slid his head in. "Oh god that's nasty!"

"How would you even know that?" Elric chuckled.

"Well, I don't, but I mean people have bad breath, ,so a monster probably would as well, right?" She said awkwardly in response.

"You see how his helmet is completely sealed around his entire head?"

"Um, yeah?" Xera's face twisted into a confused grimace.

He shook his head and laughed. "Besides restricting his vision and breathing ability, it also restricts what air is able to get in. The smell is nullified from the armor. There's a filter behind the metal to odorize and purify the air before it enters his body. It's also got a self-containment system. A better system than most people have available, he can go for a few hours without replenishing his supply. Ladies, that is Akuma, the leader of the White Knights. The Dark Light. His name says it all, he is simply the _Demon_."

The feeling that Elric was giving off from his monologue of introduction for Akuma was almost tangible. Xera could actually feel the weight of his words as his solemn tone impacted upon her. Ryuhime was the same way, but a lot more doubting of his claims.

"Come on, let's start climbing, maybe then we'll get down there in time to watch the ending of the fight."

* * *

"Not this one!" Akuma pulled his head of the barioth's mouth and slapped it aside. "Looks like it's none of these four."

Elric ran up behind them. "Hey! Long time!"

"Elric!" The two girls chorused.

"Well fancy meeting you out here." Akuma laughed.

"I brought my new team out here specifically to meet up with your guys." He waved back to the girls, still climbing down the rock wall. "Oi! Come on! Hurry up!"

"Don't rush on our parts, we should catch up back at the taverns over some drinks." Akuma offered, "Feel free to bring your girls. It can be on me."

"Oh boy, you're really willing to pay that much for us all?"

"Um, guys?" Xera slowly walked up to the group. "Shouldn't, you um, kill the monsters before socializing?"

"What? Oh yeah," Akuma looked back to the monster he was still manhandling. "Go on boy, you're not the one we want." He patted it on the head as he released it. "Let me introduce you to everybody."

The roar it released made Ryuhime and Xera both clench their hands around their ears for protection. All of the others were fine. That first barioth leapt to the skies and began to fly in a circle around the group, watching to ensure that it wasn't some sort of trick.

Two of the other barioths were tied together with a massive chain that one of the girls had fired with her bowgun. The bowgun was made with three large openings, with a separate chain coming from each to wrap around the two. The links to the chain were easily the size of Elric's hands, being even larger closer to the head of the weapon. Akuma pointed to the girl.

"This is Tethys, the brains of us lot."

_She's pretty cute,_ Xera thought idly, before a pang of guilt struck her. She wasn't interested in just _any_ girl, she had eyes for only Ryuhime. But did that mean that she wasn't allowed to look at any others?

The girl had long light-brown hair that fell down her back to the base of her ribs. She wore a pure white bow on top of her head, holding her bangs back from her face. To cover the rest of her spare, taut frame, she wore a tight bit of armor fitted to herself like a second skin. It covered her meager breasts and came down on either side of her flat stomach and provided cover over her nether regions as well. Around her waist was a heavy utility belt, filled with numerous pouches. Long white boots fitted the outfit perfectly, giving her the same sort of white purity over her feet and calves, all the way up to just above her knees. Long gauntlets of the same sort covered until her elbows.

Much of her thighs, her stomach, and her sides were all bare. She appeared to be wearing more than she actually was because attached to both the greaves and gloves were long sheets of thin white cloth. There were more sheets of the same material attached to both the shoulders and hips of her armor as well on the backside.

"Over here is Ashlyn." He gestured at the other girl. "The hidden monster."

Ashlyn was well-built with muscle, more so than the other girl. Or even Xera herself. There was a distinct definition to her muscles, but not enough to erase the natural softness of a female body. Her armor was in two completely separate pieces, one set crafted around her chest and another around her waist.

Her armor was smooth and trimmed at the edges with obviously soft silver fur. The rest was small lacquered plates laid one over another in sheets wrapping her bust and down her shoulders. The waist piece was short, only coming down to her mid-thighs. There was a lot of open flesh showing on her thighs and midriff.

Her hair was short, not quite as short as the men's, but still not passed her shoulders. The silvery blue tresses were bound up in a tail and pushed up by a headband. Four slivers of horns protruded both down and up around the headband, lending her a devilish demeanor.

Despite the bareness of her upper thighs and stomach, she wore full thigh high boots and long armored sleeves that stretched all the way up to her shoulders. A shield adorned her right arm, just below her elbow. On her back was a long twin lance, split right down the middle into two pieces. She was standing off to the side watching the fourth member of the group.

"Over there is the last current member of the White Knights, Ratatosk the Master."

"Hey guys, check it out!" The fourth member called over. "Does it look like we're in a ballroom?" He was in a pushing match with the fourth barioth, with his arms widespread, pressed firm against the monster's large padded, deadly feet. The creature was stood up on its back legs, and Ratatosk pushed and pulled it around, maneuvering it in a rough mockery of a ballroom dance.

Akuma facepalmed. "I just spent so much effort trying to build up our abilities, and then you go and do something stupid like that." He shook his head.

"It kinda does." Ashlyn let him know. "At least some."

"Good," Ratatosk let the monster go before grabbing it by the ears and smashing his armored head against its own head. Xera actually winced at the hit. More than any of the others, even Akuma's demonic appearance, Ratatosk looked sharp.

His entire body was encased in silver armor, streaked, trimmed, and designed in the purest white. Huge stacked piles of spikes protruded from his shoulders, rising up from past his helmeted head. Four wing-like spikes sprouted from his back, two up and matched with the height of the shoulder spikes, and two falling down to the sides of his hips. The helmet was spiked as well, with three protrusions heading up from the center of the forehead. Unlike Akuma's helmet, Ratatosk's was open faced, allowing him better visibility, but less protection. The heavy greaves and vambraces were lined with numerous bladed locations across the front face of it.

The barioth lost the headbutting, falling backwards and swaying in shock at the hit. Elric's team could only stare in amazement at the fact that he actually just stunned the monster by hitting it with his face.

"Ladies." His face was a bloody grimace from his blow. The blood was clearly not human, being much too dark in coloration, almost appearing blue. He ducked his head in recognition of them, giving a slight obeisance to them. "It's a pleasure."

"Over here, the short one," Elric pointed. "Is Ryuhime." She turned red at being introduced in such a manner. "And the sexy tall one is Xera." Xera swung her sword at the back of his head, edge leading this time.

The blade hit him, hard but unable to penetrate through the armor. He stumbled forward and feigned surprise. "Did I do something wrong?"

Xera swung at him again, but he sidestepped this one. "So what are you four hunting out here all by your lonesomes?"

"There's a barioth flying around here that's been making a lot of trouble for hunters recently. Only sign of identification is that one of the fangs was marked by a hunter's blade, painted. We got sent out after the fourteenth casualty."

"Really? Fourteen? Usually they try to intervene a lot sooner than that." Elric thought deep about the implications. "Do you think that they could just not care anymore? Or that the dangers are just coming too fast too soon? Overwhelming the network?"

Akuma laughed. "It seems more like there's so many of the quests coming, and too many of them required a highly talented hand. You heard about the Trail of Tears?"

Ashlyn stalked out of hearing range, quite visibly pissed.

"Yeah, I heard." Elric said solemnly. "Two weeks ago, eighteen deaths. A caravan heading into Interceptor's Base, completely destroyed. No idea what caused it. No leads to any known monster type. Interceptor's Base was declared off-limits to all hunters."

"Yep, that's the one." The entire group was deadly serious. "Everything's falling into place, just like back a few years. But we were able to stop that one at least. It looks like it's coming back. Whatever it was. A cadre of elder dragons mobilizing, getting ready for something." Akuma's voice was deadpanned.

A roar shook up the depressing tones. The group as a whole, but in particular Ashlyn seemed grateful for the diversion. "Looks like our guest has finally arrived." She whispered, reaching over her shoulder to grasp the lance.

From deep within the frozen mountains, a sleek midnight form streaked into the sky. It didn't stay there for long before striking out through the air directly at the hunters.

A barioth with skin as dark as midnight oil. Fully twice as large as any of the previous four, this creature had an aura about it that might make a hunter flinch unconsciously. Both Xera and Ryuhime caught themselves midway through the action without realizing it fully.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Akuma shook his head as he laughed. "They told us very specifically that the most notable and distinctive feature of the monster we're hunting is the painted cut through its tooth. They didn't mention the fact that it's freaking black! It's a goddamn black barioth for kirin's sake! They didn't even think to mention something like that? It's not like there are a lot of them!"

The barioth roared its agreement. This roar also caused the two novice hunters to flinch away in pain. Elric stepped back. "Here we go. Ladies, get ready to see some real action." He grinned.

Ratatosk twisted his head and gave them a cocky grin. "You ain't seen nothing yet."

The barioth flew out of the sky in stereotypical fashion for its species, flying down with one side pulled back. As it dropped to just above the ground, it shifted its weight, throwing that side forward in a powerful lunge.

Now that it was closer, a proper examination could be done. It was massive, with each individual appendage on it larger than any of the hunters. Even the fangs were larger than any of them, almost twelve feet in length. The claws and spikes along its wings were large as well, some of the small ones were only a foot and a half in length. Springing from the monster's wrists was a brace to which the skin of the wing was stretched. The bracing spike was nearly twice the length of its teeth, and while not exactly sharp, it was still clearly sharp enough to be deadly.

The claws sheared straight through the icy layers of the tundra, cracking it without effort. Effortlessly, the talons broke the uppermost layer, turning snow and ice into smalls piles around the areas where the claws sank it.

The monster and the hunters waited long moments, glaring death at one another. When the creature moving, the ice torn with heavy screeching noises. It moved, and attacked immediately, lunging forward and chomping down with its heavy teeth.

Akuma allowed to attack to connect, but his red-tinged black armor held firm. There were very few things that could penetrate the armor from the heavy bone and scales of the creature he used to create the impregnable shield. The armor of all of the White Knights was masterfully crafted, beautiful, with private touches added by their own skilled hands.

"Elric," Xera asked as battle engaged. "You were a member of the White Knights. Why'd you quit?"

As Akuma smashed his elbow down on the barioth's head, Elric responded with, "Well, back when we started." The other three hunters didn't flinch or draw weapons. "It used to be that we each did our own thing, just in a group." Akuma had laid claim to this kill, they would not interfere.

"Then Akuma got the idea of a organized method for our madness." Akuma hadn't even bothered to bring a weapon out with him, "He decided that we would all wear matching colored armor." Akuma used only his fists. "Unfortunately, white doesn't look very good on me." He was beating the monster to death. "So I couldn't stick around with that mandate up."

Akuma dropped his elbow again and smashed it hard against the fang. "Besides, if I'd stuck around," The creature backed up, "Then I wouldn't be going around doing my own thing." Akuma locked his arms in a hold as far around the barioth's neck as he could.

"And of course," The barioth lifted its head up to roar, "If that had been the case," Akuma twisted and forced the creature's head back down even with only about half of the monster's neck in his grip. "Then I wouldn't have gotten to meet with you two pretty ladies."

The barioth's roar was choked off before it could begin by Akuma's arms. "And honestly," Akuma grunted and strained in combat. "You girls are much better to watch in battle than them."

Even through the haze of armor, his muscles were visibly working. "I'd rather watch the two of you than Akuma any day." Finally, the creature's taut muscles relaxed.

Elric turned his body just in time for Xera's attack to fly by and miss. "I'm getting better at predicting when you're going to strike."

Akuma continued squeezing, shutting down the barioth's airways. Only a few more seconds was the monster able to struggled until its body started to shut down on it. Akuma held the deathgrip for several moments after the creature died, to be sure.

"There we go." He laughed. "Nice and peaceful." He dusted his hands off. "A nice short hunt to get us off on another hunting spree."

Ashlyn glared disdainfully at him. "A kick off for you maybe, but we barely got any action."

"If you want action, you know where my quarters are. Feel free to swing by whenever and I'll see how I can help." Ratatosk laughed.

"Oh bite me." She retorted.

His predictable response. "Any day."

"C'mon, lets head back to Loc Lac." Elric swept his arm. "I think somebody promised profuse amounts of alcohol upon our arrival?"

"Everything is on me. I want for all of us to celebrate! The reunion of the White Knights and Elric! And what's more, the joining of Ryuhime and Xera into the ranks of hunters!"

The entire group gave a loud cheer, except for Ryuhime. While they were celebrating, she was still mulling over that she was so easy to overlook.


	17. Chapter 17

**Well everybody, here's another chapter. I lost all of my data, everything else was deleted, and I was only just able to bring myself around to start to rewrite it. Hope you all enjoy, read/review. I hate being in a depression. **

* * *

Ulf was sitting in a booth in one of the taverns. Nailah was sitting next to him, lying along his body with her legs tucked up neatly underneath her. A large platter of food filled the table in front of them.

Nailah didn't once look to the food in hunger. She did, however, continually grab up some of the food and bring it up to Ulf's mouth to feed him.

Ulf alternated his attention equally between the food and Nailah's body, teasing all of her sweetest locations throughout their meal. He had a high metabolism, and his continual feats of incredible strength, all added to his constant gnawing hunger. All Nailah did was dull the razor edge of it some. And delay his hunger some.

"So, what do you think we-" He started to ask what she wanted to hunt next, but a large commotion interrupted his sentence.

A few tables over, it appeared as if a massive party had begun.

* * *

Akuma lifted a mug of some barely identified alcohol high above the table. "To friends!" Some of the alcohol spilled over the side. It didn't appear as if anybody noticed. "Barkeep! Tonight, me and my companions own you! Throw everybody else out!" He laughed, loud and strong.

The other patrons of the tavern let out a massive groan and launched numerous complaints, but there was no arguing with Akuma.

Slowly, everybody in the tavern filtered out, except for one patron and his female companion. The barkeep walked over rather aggressively and confronted him. Ulf stood tall and glared at the bartender.

"My girl doesn't want to leave," He said in just as aggressive a tone. Ulf didn't appear quite as intimidating as the barkeeper. The barkeeper was almost half a foot taller, and outweighed Ulf by almost a hundred pounds. "If she doesn't want to leave, there's no army in any world that will make her leave, and any who tries, I'll kill."

"I, um, I actually don't mind all that much? I'd be happy to leave if they wan-"

"Nailah." Ulf said firmly. "_You don't want to leave._" He commanded.

Nailah's eyes snapped to the back of Ulf's head. "Okay!" She said cheerfully. "I don't want to leave!" She giggled.

The barkeep just stared at her for a moment. "You've got-"

"You heard the lady. She doesn't want to leave." Ulf's voice went deadly quiet. "Got a problem with that?"

"You don't want a problem with him. He's Ulf. You're better off letting him do as he pleases." Nailah giggled again.

The barkeep started to pull his weight in to prepare to throw this punk out of his tavern, but Akuma's voice from behind them stopped the the action before it started. "What'sa matter over here? It's time to celebrate, don't be in such a fit over nothing."

"But you said to ge-"

"Hey Ulf." Xera greeted him politely. While he may have taken her championship title right out from under her, she was friends with the White Knights, so in truth, she won. "I see you're still busy causing trouble."

"I don't cause it. Nailah does. I just deal with it all and take care of all of the problems that come to find me." He chuckled in response before continuing. "So what're you doing here Xera baby?"

"Oh f*ck you!" Xera exclaimed.

"Didn't the bartender try to throw you out too?"

"I have a name you know." The barkeep tried to speak up, but he was immediately spoken over.

"Of course not. I'm the whole reason that the bar's off-limits to everybody else. Well me and my new friends, the White Knights." She tried to drop the detail as casually as possible.

"That'd be us." Akuma spoke now, waving his hand up in front of Ulf. "And as I always say, a friend of a friend is still a friendly friend. Or something to the like of that. I might have just made that up. Tell you what, I'll let you stay and join us in our party as soon as you prove yourself, like your two lady friends here did."

"Oh?" Ulf heard a challenge. He loved being challenged.

"Best one of us in an arm wrestling challenge, and you can stay. All you gotta do is throw Elric to the ground." Akuma laughed.

"Alright, sounds easy enough, only so long as Elric isn't one of these ladies." Ulf hated when he had to overpower girls.

"Elric's the goof in the lame armor."

"Hey, go dirty dance a barroth!" Was Elric's response. Which didn't do much to argue the goof argument.

"I have no words to describe my response to what you just said." Akuma shook his head. "He's a better...well everything than he is at comebacks."

"Let's go then." Ulf was cocky about his impending victory. He'd gone through school as the champion at arm wrestling, even able to best the teachers, hell, he'd beaten a congalala into submission! This Elric guy wouldn't be a problem.

Despite his brutal, crass tactics, Ulf was actually rather intelligent. He knew the first rule of any engagement, and that was simply to examine your opponent before doing anything else.

Elric was lean and tough, like almost all hunters. Ulf was a fair match up to him, close in height, only a few inches taller. But he was built more muscularly, and tougher than Elric. Even with Elric in armor, it was obviously Ulf with a larger build. None of the other details concerned him right now. Ulf was confident that he would throw the former champion to the floor with ease.

Elric dropped his arm on top of the barrel and crooked it up in challenge. "Come on boy, show me what you got!"

Ulf faced him and locked hands, glaring death at his enemy. Akuma walked up and placed hands on both of theirs, making sure that neither one would be starting with an advantage. "Are you ready?" When both nodded, he started them off. "Show me what you got!"

Ulf immediately threw his weight into the press, trying to push Elric right off by surprising him with his ferocity. His hand moved a few inches, but then Elric stopped his advance. Not just stopping it however. He stopped it cold.

Ulf wasn't prepared for that. Even when dealing with monsters, he'd always had the upper hand with strength. And now a _human hunter_, was stopping his strength? Before he could understand it, Elric pressed his own attack and smashed Ulf's hand into the barrel, throwing the other hunter to the floor. "Gotta do a lot better than that to beat me kid."

Nailah was speechless, Xera was speechless, Ryuhime was speechless. They all recognized that Elric was incredibly powerful, he would have to be in order to be a long time friend of the White Knights, but to best Ulf so absolutely, and with such ease as he had was another thing entirely.

Ulf took a moment to gather his thoughts before standing up again and slamming his elbow back down on the barrel. "I hadn't been prepared for that, let's try this again."

Elric chuckled. "You already lost, but I figure we could let you stay anyway. Akuma's a pushover anyway."

Akuma dropped a hand onto the nape of Elric's neck. "Well, he's right about one part of that." Akuma's muscles bunched and Elric was lifted clear off of the ground. "But I don't know about you staying quite yet. What do you think Xera?"

Elric's limbs flailed a little as he tried to regain his footing. "Yeah, after all, he's your friend."

"I was talking to you El."

"Oh." Elric quieted as everybody else began to laugh. Even Ulf joined in after a little while.

"I say they all stay to celebrate!" Xera declared.

"What better way to celebrate than wrestling!" Ulf still needed to regain his honor, at least in his own mind.

"If we're going to wrestle, I'd much prefer to do it with one of the females still in the room." Elric chuckled from his heightened position. in the air, assisted by Akuma.

"The real question is whether any of said females would want to wrestle with you." Akuma laughed. "Well ladies?"

Xera shook her head laughing; Ryuhime just looked aside, after a quick peek at Xera to get an idea of what she should do. Ashlyn giggled before looking him dead in the eye. "A deviljho has a better chance."

Another round of laughter from the group, while Elric put on a hurt face. "I feel that I'm a much better lover than a deviljho."

"I'll stick to myself."

It took a moment, but then the younger hunters faces turned bright red with understanding. Nailah appeared blissfully unaware of what she'd said. "Did she really just admit to-" Ryuhime began to say.

"So boy, you wanted to try again?" Elric tactfully changed the subject.

"Yeah, let's go old man!" Ulf punched his fist into his other hand. "I'm definitely gonna kick your ass this time!"

Elric looked hurt again. "I'm not that old. I'm only a few years older than you. Twenty-three is _not_ old!" He stopped to fume for a second. "And there's not a chance in hell you'll best me. Not even if your girlfriend gets in on it."

"Seriously Elric, none of the girls in the room are gonna do anything with you." Tethys told him in no uncertain terms. This whole time, Xera had pegged her as being like Ryuhime, shy but incredibly intelligent. Right here, she proved just how wrong that assumption had been. "Stop dreaming."

"I don't believe I was talking to you." Elric shrugged his shoulders and released himself from Akuma's hold. "I was talking to the ravishing young lady over here. Your answer?"

Ulf punched his fist into his other hand again, even as Nailah replied with, "What?" She had been busily examining Ulf's body while he talked.

"Wow." Elric mouthed to the other White Knights.

"Nevermind Nailah, just keep sitting pretty and giving me a reason to win." Ulf chuckled, shaking his head slowly.

"Okay!" Nailah giggled and ran over to the rest of the group. Their first thought was that she had headed over so that Ulf could watch her while he wrestled, and so Elric's back was facing her. She surprised them all by walking right up to Xera and wrapping her arms around the other girl's neck and pulling her into a deep invasive kiss.

Xera flushed bright crimson, taken completely off guard by the act. Not that she was displeased by it in any way. She'd often had fantasies about Ulf's lovely lady and herself fulfilling many of her dreams, including some involving Ryuhime as well. Nailah didn't disappoint with her kiss either. Xera had to take a brief moment to gather her thoughts, and relive the details a few times.

Nailah tasted sweet, the faint taste of a rather powerful alcohol still lingering on her lips. Her lips and tongue were soft, molding to every open space in Xera's mouth. Nailah sucked the air from her lungs, leaving her breathless as she pulled away. A small, sultry trail of saliva stretched between their lips, separating from Xera first and falling against the bare flesh of Nailah's stomach.

"Nailah!" Ulf shouted. "Bad girl!"

"Bad girl? You told me to!" Nailah pouted, still with an arm around Xera's neck. "If anything, Ulf is a bad girl!"

"What? But I'm not a girl?" Nailah was pretty good at confusing Ulf, he never knew what to expect. And he certainly was never able to understand even half of what she said.

"Exactly!" Nailah explained. "You can't be a good girl, you're a terrible example of being one! Because you're the exact opposite of one! Therefore, you're a bad girl!"

"Nailah!" Ulf couldn't come up with a very good response to that, there wasn't really a good response for that. "Just... Nailah!"

"Nailah!" Came her response.

The entire group let out a loud collective groan. Elric smacked his forehead, then turned to face Ulf. "Let's go."

Ulf grinned, forgetting about his exasperation over Nailah in face of a challenge. He still would _punish_ her later, but now his attention narrowed to the man removing his armor. "I wouldn't want you to claim that I'm not being fair or cheating. So we'll do this in the same amount of armor: none." His helmet hit the table, revealing his short, silky midnight oil hair. His eyes were wild, flicking out and about and examined Ulf's body.

Then came the rest of his armor, quickly removed, leaving his just as clothed as Ulf, with a pair of shorts only. He was hard bodied, physically supreme, but not overly muscular. Ulf appeared to immediately have the upper hand.

Ulf still had the advantage in height, and he looked to outweigh him, but like all hunters he was all muscle. He wore his hair loose as well, but the blond locks were longer than Elric's, if only by a little, just touching down on his shoulders. His own eyes were steel blue, making this truly a match of equals, but opposites. Blue versus red, light versus dark.

Xera wasn't precisely sure who would win, she was sure of who she _wanted_ to win, but Ulf was something else. Elric may have been amazing, and a former White Knight, but Ulf had beaten monsters to death with his bare hands. No matter what, it was going to be one hell of a fight.

"First one to touch shoulders to the ground loses." Akuma established the rules.

"Let's do this!" Ulf's declaration turned into a roar of anger as he charged at his opponent. Elric waited, waited, waited, until the perfect moment until he lashed out in response. He threaded his fingers through Ulf's, clenching and stopping him dead again. Ulf strained to push, and Elric appeared to put forth no effort to halt his actions in response. He was like a brick wall, keeping him perfectly still.

Ulf tried a different tactic, reversing his momentum while keeping his feet stationary and turning his arms down to lift Elric up above his head. He switched his grip, grabbing Elric's shoulders and trying to slam his entire back on the ground. "Game over old man."

"Check again."

A sense of awe wandered through the young hunters. Elric had managed to catch himself, a few scant inches from his shoulders touching the floor. His legs were twisted up under his hips. His body was rigid, every muscle straining to keep him straight. Ulf moved for a better angle and pressed vertically down, assuming it would be easy to finish him. Elric didn't move.

Until he chose to do so.

Elric dropped his arms down toward his waist, pulling Ulf forward. He used Ulf's momentum to pull himself up, flipping over and rolling on Ulf's back, landing on his feet. Ulf flew forward, tucking into a roll to keep himself from hitting face first. He rolled back up to feet and just barely kept himself from flying back at Elric.

"Yeah!" Xera began to cheer for Elric's victory, but he held a palm up to stop her.

"My shoulders hit the ground when I flipped him." Elric admitted. Xera's face fell in disappointment.

"Yay! That means Elric lost and Ulf wins!" Nailah cheered. "I knew he'd win. Ulf always wins. Even back in the academy, he beat out Xera for the position of champion. Even playing rock, paper, scissors he always wins. He's just good like that, and impossible to not win. He's just that kind of person whom nature recognizes as amazing; he doesn't even need to put forth effort, if you had been smart, you would've just given up before making the challenge." She giggled.

"Shut up Nailah." Was Xera's response.

* * *

A few hours later, Ulf approached Elric during the party. All around them, the party was in full swing. Nailah was busily drinking as if she were fulfilling her job; Xera and Ashlyn were feasting, the vast amounts of food never having any actual change on their bodies. Their metabolisms were powerful, able to burn through the food, no matter how much they ingested. Ratatosk was reliving some of their adventures for Ashlyn and Xera, who paid him little heed. Even Tethys was busily drinking rather than trying to keep her mind. The bartender was allowed in the fun, sharing their happiness and drinking as one with them. The only one who still seemed in full control of himself were Akuma and Elric, who seemed to be unaffected by all of the flowing alcohol.

"Hey, can I talk to you?" The blond asked the armored man.

"What's up?" Elric grinned, a flagon of ale paused just shy of his lips.

"You lied." Ulf was a little mad about it. "You never touched the ground."

"I don't know what you're talking about. You won fair and square."

"I could feel you holding both of us off the ground yo-"

Elric interrupted him. "Look man, Ulf. Your girlfriend wants to believe that you can't lose. Why are you trying to ruin that for her? Someday, we both know you'll be able to beat me at that with ease. Let's just pretend we're there already?"

"I don't want to wi-"

"As long as you're her big winner, we both know she's gonna treat you like one." Elric grinned. "Just take the victory and enjoy your reward."

"You're not half bad." Ulf conceded.

The party continued long into the night.


	18. Chapter 18

Ryuhime was furious. Not at any of the others. She was furious with herself. The past dozen conversations she'd tried to have with any of the other hunters she'd been overridden and lost in the other's words. Nobody cared about her in the slightest. And she had nobody to blame but herself. Who _should _care about her when she barely did?

She punched her fist against the tree. She wasn't even sure how far she'd run. That detail scared her more than anything else. She _always_ was aware of her surroundings, and now she didn't even know where she was, when she'd been the one who'd chosen to go there.

Anger flooded through her, making her lash out at the tree again and again, until her blood ran in a few steady trickles along her arm, pooling at her elbow and dripping into the slowly growing puddle below. She screamed, causing a flight of monsters to fled the forest away from her, startled at the suddenness of her cry. Her knees buckled, giving out on her. She fell, hitting the ground and feeling sharp pricks as her knees were torn by small stones.

She was tempted to flee, to run away from the city, from the others, from everything. Give it all up and just be able to avoid dealing with any of it. With her own desperation, with the pain of life, with how little she mattered. She wondered if any of them would even notice if she left.

There was one thing stopping her. One thing and one thing only. She couldn't bear to be without Xera. She didn't care that she and Elric clearly had a thing going, she didn't care that Xera barely even knew when she was around, Xera was important enough to Ryuhime that she was thinking about staying and suffering through.

Another part of her was opposed. Another part of her wanted to end it all. She could see how easy it was to just give up. Give up on the group, give up hunting, give up on life! She was finding it difficult to even breathe through her sobbing.

It didn't matter. She couldn't summon up any energy to care. She just kind of wanted to lie down and die. But that would mean never seeing Xera again. And she didn't want that.

She was torn. Whether to continue with Xera and the group, or to just stop now that her dreams were already dead. She slammed her fists down on the ground now, hitting the meaty flesh on the base of her thumbs, cutting and bruising her hands painfully. Even more painfully than it had already. She was hurting and it actually didn't feel very bad at all. It actually felt, not exactly good, but fulfilling. As if she were doing something that was replacing the loss of Xera.

She pulled the carving knife off her back and looked at it, examining the edge carefully. Razor sharp, as she knew it would be. She was very careful to sharpen the blade after every time she used it. Most hunters allowed their carving knives to slowly fall into disrepair, dulled edges, spotted with rust. It was a shame and she refused to end up one of those people.

And of course, the sharper the blade, the better it would be for the purpose she required now. It took several long minutes of deliberation for her to think about it, in particular, _where_. She couldn't exactly do it where somebody would easily be able to see.

Considering how little clothing she actually wore, that didn't leave very many places to cut. She didn't really want to cut her sensitive bits, which meant she needed to get some kind of armor. She could probably buy some cheap armor, and she knew she could come up with some story about the why behind it.

She loved Xera, but the girl wasn't exactly the highest on the scale of intelligence. It wasn't just Xera though, Elric might be acclaimed as an exceptional hunter, but in all honesty he didn't seem all that intelligent. The same went for the others, Ulf and Ratatosk clearly knew how to kill, but there wasn't much other knowledge locked up inside those heads. Akuma was smart, like Ryu herself, but to a much lesser degree, more like Elric's level. Ashlyn was an idiot truthfully, it was amazing she hadn't been killed by a stray monster. Tethys however, Tethys was intelligent, maybe even close to the same level of intelligence as Ryuhime herself.

Surely Ryuhime could manage to hide a couple of cuts from those people. They weren't exactly the brightest for the most part, certainly nothing compared to her.

She tucked the blade up against her stomach and curled around it. A few deep breaths to steady herself before she pressed the blade harder against her body and gave a sharp tug. The pain coursed through her torso, making her wince and whimper pathetically. She put up with the pain for another second and then felt the rush of euphoria as her body released numerous hormones.

She sighed with pleasure, a groan of pain making its way into her voice. The pain was a blessing and a curse, a pain that she both desired and hated herself for desiring. Whatever, she went about and headed back to the city.

After all, she was just out on a stroll through the night when she was attacked by an iodrome. She still had the skins from the first one they had hunted along with Ulf and Nailah, she could just clean it up some and tell them she was off hunting another. She had the skins, and she was injured, they'd probably buy it. She knew Xera would at least. It would probably be better if she hid the injury from the others though. On her way back into the city, she stopped by a shop to procure some potions and a bandage. It would be easier to explain. She knew that she at least could recognize the difference between a claw mark and a cut made by a blade, there was no reason to think that Tethys couldn't.

After that, it was right back to Elric's place to sleep the night away.

What she found when she opened the door hurt more than the cut however. Elric was lying passed out on one of the couches, with Xera the same, using his thigh as a pillow. The reek of alcohol stung her nostrils, but there was no mistaking that there was clearly something going on between the two of them, clearly more than there was between her and Xera.

It hurt, but what did she expect, she already knew they were hooking up. She walked over, her pain giving her a modicum of control she'd never experienced before. She grabbed up a blanket and covered Xera gently, before leaning in and kissing her on the lips.

She immediately pulled back, shocked at herself that she was brave enough for it. Her stomach roiled, a good turning of her stomach she felt. But what if Xera had felt it, knew what she'd done and was angry with her. She bit her finger in her nerves. _What had she been thinking!_ She was such an idiot sometimes! When she woke up tomorrow, Xera would tell Elric what happened and he'd throw Ryu out on her butt.

Somewhere in her subconscious, she recognized that there was no way for Xera to have felt the kiss, but still she worried about it. She didn't want to ruin it for Xera as well.

She jumped when she heard a snore coming from behind her. She spun around quickly and found that the room wasn't nearly as empty as she'd thought it was. As it turned out, all of the White Knights were asleep in the room as well, laid out haphazardly across the floor and other couches. Like their first night sleeping in Elric's house back in the village, there were scores of empty bottles lying about on the floor. The only difference here was the fact that Ryu wasn't drunk like the rest of them.

She cried herself to sleep that night.

* * *

Xera woke up and immediately wished she was dead. "Someone turn off the sun!" She shouted grumpily.

The response was laughter. It took a moment before she was able to identify the voice as belonging to Elric. "You're out of luck there girly, I've found that in all my years, I've yet to find a way to shut that yellow bastard out of this life."

"Is there a way to you up?"

"Not really."

"Damn." Xera pushed herself up, slipping as she found one of the bottles underfoot. "Double damn!"

"Watch your footing, we nearly cleared out my coffers last night celebrating."

"Celebrating what?"

"I don't really remember it either." Elric laughed. "But whatever it is, I'm sure it was a pretty good reason. Like coming back alive from a hunt."

"You've got to be kidding me." Xera moaned. "That's not a reason to celebrate!" She yelled at him, immediately regretting it after her head vibrated with pain. "That's normal business for you guys."

"You'd think wouldn't you?"

"Yeah, hence why I said it." Then, through her hangover, Xera had an epiphany. "Hey wait a minute, you said that your former allies died!"

"And they did. Not my first team, the ones I had before I went back to the village to recruit you and Ryuhime."

"So these guys-"

"Are the allies I graduated with."

"I thought there were only three graduates the year you came into your own."

"Yeah," Elric grinned. "Me, Akuma, and Ratatosk."

"Then what about the-"

"The girls came into play later." He explained simply. "Ratatosk found Ashlyn in the wild, after quite an impressive feat if we're to trust his tale. But if he's completely truthful, then it certainly is rather impressive and she's certainly earned the title of the hidden monster."

"What happened?"

"That her tale to tell. You need to earn it from her. And as for Tethys, she found us." He shrugged. "We apparently had earned a name for ourselves, and she wanted to join a real team who wouldn't disappoint her. At least, that's how she explained it. I'm not sure how trustful her account can be, considering that during the time when I was still a part of the team, she never revealed anything about her past. Still, Akuma trusts her and that's good enough for the rest of us."

"So those other ones you were talking about..."

"I recruited them just like I did you. They knew the risks, as do you and Ryuhime. I said outright that we would be hunting elder dragons. Everybody _needs_ us to do this. There's no other choice. The threat of the elder dragons has grown to the point where it's simply too dangerous to leave them be. But I'm not going to have you go in helpless, we'll wait until you're all trained up, and at that point, there'll be no danger in the end. At least, no more than usual. I think I might have brought them out too soon." His face looked down toward the ground.

"It wasn't your fault."

"Like you know." He attempted to make himself more cheerful. "I shouldn't listen to you anyway, you're drunk."

"I'm not drunk. That was last night. Now I'm just hungover."

"That doesn't mean I should listen to you anymore than usual." Elric responded. "After all, I am technically your leader, I give you orders, you follow them."

"When it suits me to." She protested.

"Where's Ryuhime?" Elric diverted the conversation, wanting to avoid it for as long as possible.

Xera's head snapped around, another mistake when suffering like such. Her hands clasped tight around her head in pain. When she had recovered some, she looked around the room much slower. "W-where's Ryu?" She asked.

Elric almost felt bad for her. The always-confident Xera looked nervous, even scared. He smiled, taking pity on her. "Not everybody is such an alcoholic lush, she's asleep in her bed."

Xera leapt to her feet, stumbling as she set off yet another ache to throb through her head. _I'll have to take it slower_. She decided as she headed up to Ryu's room. She only opened the door a little bit to peek in, just enough to see that the short hunter was safely in her bed. She didn't want to enter the room and risk waking her.

* * *

Ryuhime wasn't asleep though, she was curled up around her injury and feeling really stupid as she looked back at the prior night. What the hell had she been thinking? She felt warm tears streak down and soak into the bedding. She wasn't trying to kill herself, at least, she didn't think so. But why did she cut herself then? And why did it feel so good? She couldn't answer that, and that frightened her. She was a prodigal genius, she knew everything!

Ryuhime jumped when she heard the door shut. She twisted around in her bed to look at the door. _Had somebody been there watching her?_

No solution for it except to get up. If somebody had been up there, she wouldn't figure it out unless she went downstairs to see anyway. She pushed herself up, the motion stretching her side where the scar had already formed. It was sore, but the wound was fully closed, potions were powerful items. She had bought the bandages assuming that she'd need to cover the injury up, but everybody had been too drunk to notice it when it was still fresh. She began to slowly unravel the injury, wishing that the pain had been cured by the potion as well. She rolled the bandages up to use at a later time.

She tried to ignore the pain and headed downstairs. She walked a bit around the living room to make sure that she could walk while masking the pain. When she was certain of her ability, she went to the kitchen and opened the door slowly, wary of how many people might be standing within the large chamber.

And every one of them was in there. Akuma, Tethys, Elric, Ratatosk, Ashlyn, Xera, they were all sitting in there, and as she opened the door, every one of their gazes fell upon Ryuhime. That was incredibly intimidating for her. There was a reason why she stood in the back of the group, in the back of _every_ group. She didn't like attention and she hated herself for how intelligent she was, if only because her intelligence caused attention to fall on her. All she could think of to say was, "Um, h-hi?"

That caused the others to burst into laughter. Ryuhime blushed and began to turn back.

"Wait wait, look you guys." Elric held his hands up to placate the others. "I told you, she's shy in the morning. C'mon Ryuhime." He beckoned her forward. "Come to think of it, she's pretty shy all of the time."

Ryuhime walked into the kitchen, barely. She stood with her back up against the door. Xera walked over, wrapping her in a hug. "Isn't she adorable in the morning?" She giggled before kissing Ryuhime on the cheek.

"I don't know about that, but the sight of you two kissing is certainly welcome." Ratatosk chuckled. "Ashlyn, if you or Tethys wants in on this, I doubt anybody would complain."

Ashlyn answered with a very rude gesture while Tethys simply answered with a smile. Akuma shook his head helplessly. Xera joined Ashlyn in flipping him off.

"Oh come on." Ratatosk was still grinning wide. "You know I love you honey." He directed his gaze at Ashlyn. "And any time you want to do anything I'm all for it."

"Haven't we gone over this more than enough?" She purred as she reached to take a swing at his head.

While everybody was watching their engagement, Xera whispered to Ryuhime. "I'm sorry."

Ryu was shocked, she had thought to apologize for the kiss last night. What did Xera have to apologize for? Before blurting out her own apology, Ryu took a moment to think. "W-what do you have to say sorry for?"

"Erm, I woke you up? When I went to go check on you? I must've made more noise than I had thought. Sorry about that."

_Oh,_ Ryuhime grinned. She had been worried that Xera had told Elric about what happened last night, and that was why she was apologizing. With that not being the case, Ryuhime could breathe easier. Maybe she really had been asleep last night. Oh well, Ryuhime wouldn't get an answer working hypothetical. Nothing would be answered like that. She smiled at Xera. "No harm done. I don't even think I even heard you." Maybe that was the reason for the door being shut earlier?

Xera moved away from her, succored by her acceptance of the apology and not reading any further into it. Ryuhie breathed a sigh of relief. Clearly none of them recognized her injury, well scar. She had nothing to worry about.

"So what's on the agenda for today?" Elric asked the gathered White Knights.

"Apparently there's a deviljho just outside Loc Lac. Wanna tag along to check it out?"

"Eh, I wasn't exactly prepared to take the girls out against an elder dragon quite yet." Elric scratched the back of his head. "So I think we're going to have to turn you down on that offer."

"Oh hell no!" Xera exclaimed. "Hunting a deviljho? There is no f*cking way in hell I'm missing out on that!" She slammed her palms down on the table. "You know me Elric, if you try to keep me from this, I will follow you and face off against it anyway. And if I do that, you wouldn't be there to protect me."

"It's too dangerous for you two."

"Bullshit! Ryuhime captured a gypceros yesterday when she didn't need to."

"Two days ago." Ryuhime said quietly.

"I took out a bulldrome no problem! And I helped you fight that other deviljho. Bullshit we're not ready!"

"Fine." Elric held his hands up. "Between the seven of us. One of them shouldn't be an issue." He cracked his neck and walked to the icebox. "But before we move out there, let's eat."

"Yay!" Xera cheered. She loved to eat.

Everybody else simply looked at her for a moment before bursting out into laughter. Elric pulled thick slabs of aptonoth steaks out. He then threw some wood into the massive fireplace and started a roaring fire. He placed a wire frame over the fire before laying the steaks down to be kissed by the flames. The meat was actually within the fire, allowing it to cook quickly. The odor of the cooking meat swiftly filled the room, making all of their mouths water. He reached into the flames and pulled the steaks out, dropping them onto plates and sliding them across the table to each of the hunters.

The hunters dug in with a fiery energy, especially Xera and Ashlyn. Ashlyn only just barely finished her breakfast before Xera's final bite. Ryuhime only had a few bites before pushing her plate in front of Xera, who immediately began to eat that one up as well.

"Alright then!" Akuma declared when the food was all gone. "Off on the hunt!" He led the way out and headed down to the guild house.

Upon their arrival, Ratatosk walked to the counter. " 'ello love." He drawled. "I think ya gots a quest for your dashing prince in glowing armor?" He chuckled. "Unless I'm mistaken sweetheart?" He rubbed the pad of his pointer finger under her chin, tickling her and making her blush. "So how about it darling?"

She giggled and leaned in to whisper in his ear. Whatever she said was too quiet for any of the others to overhear. But it certainly aroused Ratatosk's interest. "Ahaha, well then!" He chuckled as she pulled away. "I'll have to get your address from you when we return."

Ashlyn grabbed him by his ear and twisted her wrist, making his cry out in pain. "Owowowow! Let go!"

"No, _let's_ go Casanova." She groaned. "I'm sorry 'sweetheart,' " She aimed her sarcastic remark at the guild's representative. "But you wouldn't want to screw yourself over that badly. Nobody ever feels anything but shame and regret after a night with him."

"Oh shut up you bitch." Ratatosk retorted. "You're just jealous that you've never made it there."

She didn't respond, just kept on dragging Ratatosk out of the guild house. As they left, Akuma reasserted himself as the group's leader. "Alright dollface. Let's see what you got."

"Um, I know the four of you," She gestured at the White Knights, "Are allowed on any of our missions. And Elric, I know that you just do whatever the hell you want anyway and the guild can't afford to prevent you from that. Right Mr. Sweeper?" She giggled and gave the hunter a wink. "But what about the two nudists? They can't be anything but noobs. What rank are they?"

"Doesn't matter." Elric tried to explain.

"Oh yes it does! I _can't_ afford to allow anybody out of their ranks to hunt. Most especially now. What with everything that's going on." She shook her head firmly. "There's been too many deaths already." Her eyes glistened.

"Oh right, I almost forgot." Elric reached into his pack and drew out two pieces of paper. To accompany the papers were two medals on short chains. "Passes from the guild that say I'm allowed to do whatever the f*ck I want, with friends." He laughed.

The girl took the notes and read them both thoroughly, several times each before tossing the notes back throwing her arms up. "Whatever. I am not going to be held accountable for any injuries that come from this. And they're still signing the waivers. I don't need any families coming to disturb my peace."

"My family died out on a disease." Xera shrugged.

"Whatever, I still want your signatures."

Ryuhime looked to the floor. She didn't even know if her parents were still alive. She would even feel better just knowing that her parents were dead. But no. She'd been abandoned by both of her parents long before. If she died, then there would be nobody to mourn her passing. There was nobody for her except the hunters she was with right now, and even then it was doubtful.

With their signatures secured, the girl bid them a farewell. "Good luck!" She called out.

Elric gave her a wink and a smile, "Maybe we can do something when we come home." He teased. "I can think of a lot of stuff to do involving monsters and none of them are hunting."

The others hunters all groaned, but the guild cutie giggled and blushed. "We'll just have to wait now won't we?"

Elric gave a last fond farewell. "I hope to see you anon Stacy."

Xera shook her head as they headed out of the room. "So I take it you've done _business_ with her before?" Xera gave a wicked grin.

"Oh Stacy's a right fireball, trust me on that. But her mom has really got it going on."

* * *

**Well there you are, another chapter for you to peruse and enjoy. As always, read rate and review, but again, I don't have a plot planned out for this story, so any suggestions you might have, I very well might use. Also, in response to some of the reviews of last time, I always reply to a review through PM, but I'm not able to if you do an unsigned one. But to Doki-chan, this is my first and pretty much favorite story, and I have plans to get this story quite far.  
**


	19. Chapter 19

**A relatively short chapter, but I quite enjoyed writing it. Anyway, it's all about building Xera. Some of the building is somewhat subtle, but it's all working up to it all.**

* * *

The beginning of the hunt was pretty tame compared to their expectations. In the sudden nothing of what _wasn't_ happening, Xera remembered to wonder where her rival and his girl had ended up. Not that she really cared very much. After all, she didn't like him. The bastard didn't deserve her attention. And she wasn't going to give it to him!

She pointedly turned her attention back to the forest. Dark and ominous, perfectly suited for the creature they were after. The deviljho, the great devourer.

Xera couldn't wait. This was going to be awesome! She was having difficulty keeping herself form bouncing with joy at the very prospect of her hunting a deviljho. Sure there were plenty of other hunters coming along, seven of them on a single hunt. A little overkill, but technically Xera and Ryuhime were only coming along to watch, they weren't supposed to actually attack the thing. As if that was going to happen. Elric should know that she wasn't going to hold back.

Akuma was currently in the lead. Just off to his side, a step or two behind, Ashlyn was positively giddy with joy at the hunt. She was the most aggressive of the White Knights for sure, but Xera found it refreshing. Ashlyn and Xera got along very well already.

Right behind Ashlyn were the other two White Knights. Ratatosk walked with an easy swagger, confident with his armor shining and pristine, radiant in the darkness of the trees. He was a beacon to attract the monsters. Ashlyn's armor absorbed the light, Akuma's exuded the dark, Elric's blended with the area.

Next to him, Tethys was much the same. With the flowing white strands of cloth dangling from her body, she was very visible. But still, she paled compared to Ratatosk.

With no warning, the ground beneath the group suddenly burst upward. Akuma managed to hold his ground, but the rest of the group was flung skyward off of the back of the monster. The deviljho burst forth into their midst. Xera fell onto her backside, staring in awe up at the creature. She only sat there for a few seconds before she was right back up on her feet. Just because it was one of the most dangerous monsters, well, that did not mean that she had to fear it. She leapt forward and swung her greatsword with all of the strength she could muster, slamming it down at the creature's knee. It was the highest point she could reach, and that only because it was still under the ground. Her blow didn't even manage to pierce the thing's skin, bouncing off harmlessly. But it did manage to attract the thing's attention.

The deviljho swung its great head around, knocking against Xera with the spiny protrusions jutting from its jaw. One of them caught her just above her eye, splashing a trickle of blood over her forehead.

She grinned madly. This was amazing, her version of heaven! The monster hurt her without even trying, just carelessly turning around? Death lurked in its every footstep.

The thing's mouth opened wide and lunged down at her. The black pit between its jaws was immense, large enough to swallow her whole and still have room left over. A twinge of fear coursed through her, sparking her nerves with excitement. Instead of backing down like most new hunters would when faced against a monster like this, Xera glared at it and swung for all she was worth right at the thin flesh connecting its jaws.

The monster bit down on her weapon, breaking it into hundreds of pieces. The blade exploded in a massive wave, knocking her backwards onto her rear. A pretty large shard of her weapon snapped out and buried itself right next to head almost three inches in a tree.

"Dammit girl!" Elric grabbed her and hauled her to her feet. "Didn't I tell you not to get in the way. Now get in the back!" He threw her behind him, backhanding the deviljho away. "And stay there!"

Xera only just managed to keep her feet by grabbing hold of Ryuhime and using the smaller girl as a crutch. She almost took them both to the ground, but Ryuhime was a rock. "Are you okay?" She asked as she struggled to keep her feet with Xera's arms around her.

"You're blushing." Xera teased as she stood up again. She bounced her finger off of the flushed cheeked before turning back to the fight.

Akuma and Ratatosk were already covered in blood, long streaks of it painting their bodies. Akuma actually had his longsword out, swinging it one handed whenever he saw a perfect opportunity. Wherever the blood hit him, it seemed as if his armor were drinking the blood into its darkness. He stalked like a predator, and the deviljho's attention seemed riveted to him. Ratatosk's dual blades danced over the creature, flinging blood in thick streams through the air.

On the other side of the monster, Ashlyn was wielding her own dual swords with a rival fury.

Xera was entranced for a moment, just watching the deadly efficiency. Her trance was broken as an arrow streaked through, right between Xera and Ryuhime. The arrow pierced right into the deviljho's left eye, making the monster stand high and let out an ear-shattering roar. The sound broke through the forest, sending hundreds of other monsters into a rush to escape.

Xera was actually surprised to find herself pulling her hands away from her ears. That was unintended. She wanted to hear the monster scream its hatred. Even the master hunters had covered their ears against the scream. Only Akuma had been unaffected.

She looked around and saw everybody recovering. Everybody except for Ryuhime, Ryu lay on the ground, her ears stained with blood.

Ryuhime was injured.

Xera's vision narrowed. A ring of red wrapped around the edge of her sight, trapping her to only an image of Ryuhime.

Elric was brushed to the side like an insect, thrown aside when Xera ran past. The deviljho had hurt Ryuhime, therefore he must suffer. Elric hit a tree, leaning against it as he watched. This was a show he didn't want to miss. Ever since her taking out the bulldrome, joining the fight with the other deviljho, he really wanted to see how far she would go. He watched her throw herself at the monster, leaping up over the spines on its chin just as it reached down to take a bite at her. She continued up and ran along his snout until she reached the top of his head.

The deviljho moved then, alert to the person on top of it now. Another roar shook the air, less powerful. Akuma saw what Xera was doing and leapt forward to distract. When Akuma shouted, the deviljho's entire focus diverted to him. The massive jaws dropped down to enclose Akuma's torso, pinning both of his arms in the dreadful maw as well.

Xera finally reached her prize, just in time too. Despite the power of his armor and all, a deviljho was still a deviljho. And more than that, this deviljho was much larger than most, and already looked to be worked up into a rage.

Xera's sprint ended at the monster's eye, where the grabbed hold of the arrow, using her running force to shove the arrow into his eye. The deviljho arced up, swinging his massive head to remove the minute pain. Xera tried to keep her grip on the arrow to stay up on the monster, but the sheer speed with which he whipped his head up ripped the arrow from his eye.

She flew through the air helplessly, coming down hard on her back several yards away. The deviljho looked defeated for the time being.

Ryuhime sprinted to Xera's prone figure to make sure the taller girl was still alive.

Xera's attack certainly did a number on the deviljho. It lunged forward and let out an incredible roar, enough to actually knock all of the hunters to the ground. All of the hunters except for Akuma of course. What looked like red lined blackness erupted from the monster's neck in a glowing halo. Stretching from the powerful maw to almost halfway down its body, the halo was the purest anger.

Akuma grinned. The guild hadn't mentioned this. A variant deviljho, if he'd known that in advance, he'd have been looking forward to this hunt a whole lot more. The savage deviljho was nothing like its relative.

But of course, now that he actually wanted to fight it, it showed no desire to face him. As a matter of fact, apparently Xera had done a better job pissing it off than he'd thought, because it's beady, cruel eyes stared directly at her. He stalked toward Xera, bending low and reaching forward to engulf her in a single bite.

Ryuhime stood up and swung her switchaxe at the creature's mouth.

Akuma had to respect the girl, she had a pair on her. And he didn't mean her chest. Standing up against a savage deviljho to protect her love? With no armor? And no honest chance?

He raced forward, lunging at the thing's face just as it bit at Ryuhime. She was swallowed whole in a single bite.

Out of nowhere, a longsword came spinning out of nowhere, flying over Akuma's head and stabbing right into the side of the creature's neck. Elric, always trying to show him up. Akuma turned to him and laughed. "Don't worry. I've got this."

"He just ate my teammate!" Elric shouted at him. "I promised I'd keep them safe!"

"I said I've got this." Akuma emphasized.

A low growl turned them both toward Xera. She was down on all fours, growling deep inside of her chest. Her glare was enough to freeze blood before she began to move at the deviljho. Akuma didn't know whether to leapt in front of her or to allow her to attack. He decided to wait, sheathing his weapons, and then lifting his hand to show his palm at Elric, to forestall his rush. Elric was only too predictable. An attack on his allies was an attack on him, and he retaliated hard when attacked.

Xera grabbed the thing's leg, shoving her fingers into the cuts that the White Knights had left. And then she began to climb. She made it all the way up to the top of the creature, now only holding on through sheer force of will.

Akuma was laughing as he watched.

The rest of the White Knights, Elric included, were stunned speechless. Xera threw herself up the creature, grabbing hold of the longsword near the thing's head, fingers shoved right through the dragonic energy spewing from the monster.

She swung down and put her mouth right next to the monster's ear, before letting out a full blooded roar, loud enough to nearly match that of the deviljho himself.

Actually, Akuma pondered. She sounded _exactly_ like the deviljho. He was one of the first people to learn of the 'heart of the monster.' He'd actually been the one to first say that Ashlyn had one. And there was no doubt in his mind that Elric had guessed correct. Xera most certainly had a monster's heart. There was no other way that she could have roared like that without it.

But the deviljho was less impressed than he was. He swung his mammoth head to the side, slamming Xera against one of the giant trees in the area. She hit hard, with an audible crack and fell like a stone to the ground.

"Alright, I've got it now." He laughed as he redrew his weapons with a spinning flourish. Hands closed about his weapons' hilts, he rushed forward.

The rest of the fight lasted mere moments. Another moment and Ryuhime was freed once again. Another, and everybody was headed for home. Elric bore the burden of hoisting both Xera and Ryuhime over his shoulders. Yeah, he was really suffering. Two beautiful women tossed over his arms, neither of whom weighed more than a feather. So in total, a whole two feathers worth of beautiful woman. Yeah, really suffering.

Akuma sighed. Elric was more than welcome to waste his time chasing them. It was clear they only had eyes for each other.

He dropped a heavy arm over Tethys's shoulder and dragged her to his side in a hug, before giving her a kiss on top of her head. He had his own beautiful woman. He didn't need to chase a lesbian.

Akuma loved to hunt with his team. And these two new girls certainly seemed to be able to stand up to par.

"Now let's see them do it alone."


	20. Chapter 20

**Well, here you go, another chapter for you all. I know it's short...but...  
**

* * *

Ryuhime awoke with a savage pounding in her head. They were moving. A massive heat was coming from somewhere near to her. She soon went and opened her eyes, finding out that it had been the dead deviljho's body, still radiating heat like a stove. Xera lay on the transport wagon right next to Ryuhime. There was something off about the taller hunter, but Ryuhime couldn't put her finger on what it might be.

It hit her like a slap from a monster's tail. Xera's lips were blue! Blue lips were a bad sign, a really bad sign! Blue lips meant low on oxygen, poor blood circulation, near-death states, things of that nature.

Xera couldn't be dying! Xera was Xera, she was always better than Ryuhime! She couldn't be doing worse now!

Ryuhime struggled to raise herself up enough to crawl over to Xera. The most she could do was push herself up on a single arm. She couldn't even feel her legs. Did she even have legs? She couldn't feel them. Her neck was bloody, that much she could feel, long streamers pouring down her chest, soaking into the thin material covering her chest. And more than that, it felt like her entire body was on fire, burning like she was on fire, or dipped in magma. Every second only grew more painful. She pulled herself weakly along, trying to reach Xera, but there was something pulling at her skin as she went. The wood? She was a little afraid of looking down at her legs, she didn't know why but she didn't feel like it was a good idea.

It seemed to take forever for her to drag herself the five feet across the wagon, but it was more than worth it in order to get close to Xera. But she finally made it, pushing herself up onto her knees next to the other hunter. A sharp pain shot through her, from her ankles as she balanced up. But that didn't matter, what mattered was Xera.

"Xera!" She shouted, face inches away from the other hunter. "Xera, nononono! Wake up! You can't be dead! Wake up dammit!" She grabbed the taller hunter's shoulders and shook her. "Wake up!" Tears ran down Ryuhime's cheeks. "You can't be dead. I love you! Wake up!"

Xera didn't move.

Ryuhime fell back onto her heels and pitched over onto her backside. She looked down, finally at her feet, and learned that she no longer had any.

She gasped, trying to inhale, but it didn't seem like she was able to. Her lungs screamed at her for want of oxygen. At the end of her legs, about three inches up from her ankles, it was just torn ragged flesh, with jagged shards of bone sticking out from the shattered calf bones. _Shock,_ she thought to herself. _I'm in shock_. That was the only explanation for why she couldn't feel it. How much blood had she lost? She did feel pretty cold. Maybe she was dying too. That would be okay. If she couldn't live with Xera, then it was okay for her to die as well. After all, without Xera, there just didn't seem to have a point.

Ryuhime leaned forward again, ignoring the pain from her throbbing legs. and pressed her lips against Xera's. Then she lay down, curling up against Xera's side. Everything was fine now. They were together...


	21. Chapter 21

**Alright, here's your chapter everybody! I know that you've been waiting for this. Too bad about Ryuhime and Xera... Looks like Elric's lost another team...**

* * *

Elric sighed. Well, their first real quest, hadn't exactly turned out like he'd planned. Not at all like he'd thought. Maybe he just shouldn't hunt with partners, maybe that was the best way to kept things like this from happening. After all, the past couple times he'd tried hunting with a group other than the White Knights, look at how it'd turned out for him, and for them for that matter. Probably worse for them actually, now that he thought about it.

He looked at the cart, where the bodies of Ryuhime and Xera, and the deviljho all lay cold and motionless. Their stillness was unsettling. Especially the deviljho. It was dead, definitely dead, but it looked as if it were ready to lunge back to its feet and attack them all.

Hell, it was a deviljho. It could very well manage to do so. It wouldn't surprise him in the slightest. There weren't all that many of them, but even a single one could demolish an entire city. When just a single one of them came near Loc Lac, it immediately triggered an urgent quest. It was dangerous in every way.

He sighed. "I guess I'll need a new team now."

* * *

Ryuhime jumped up in fright. This was far from her most intelligent move, as it also caused her to spill out of the aptonoth cart that was carrying her back to the city. She hit the ground and cried out in pain, her back feeling as if someone had poured a powerful acid along it.

The ground was like ten thousand needles, each stabbing into her with a fury.

"Ah, Elric, looks like one of your girlfriends is alive and well!" A rough voice laughed. She knew that voice, who was it?

"Great!" Elric said cheerfully. The aptonoth cart rolled to a stop and he walked around to stand over her. "Um, are you sure that she's alive?" He leaned down and patted her cheek.

"I think so..." Ryuhime said softly. Then she remembered! Her legs! Xera! She immediately pushed herself up, ignoring the pain as it flared through her body, and she staggered up to stand on her feet. First bit of good news, apparently she either didn't need her feet, or she still had them, either way she counted it as a plus. But she had to know what happened to Xera! She took a weak step forward, and then her eyes locked onto the other girl. "Xera." She said, her next step landed on a rock, spilling her onto the ground.

"Ouch." That rough voice said. Rat-something. What was his name? Rat-breath? No, it was a real name, not a nickname.

How was her mind not working anymore! She didn't know how to handle this. After all, her mind was all that she really had. It wasn't like she was worth anything more. All she was was a brain and a pair of awkward, annoying tits. And now she couldn't even think anymore!

"Don't worry lass." Another, softer voice spoke up. Arms reached under her and lifted her gently from the ground. "Stop hyperventilating. C'mon. Do it with me now. Breathe in. Now out."

And with him- Elric! His name was Elric- leading her, she slowly regained control. Although she was still in a panic. She could feel her heart pounding, it seemed like she could calm. "S-s-s-sorry."

"What are you sorry for lass?" He was so gentle right now.

Her mind flashed back- a half-hour? An hour?- to the fight with the deviljho. She had been swallowed whole by the monster, and Xera- oh god! She struggled to escape from Elric's hands, but he was too strong. Or maybe she was just too weak. Either way, she couldn't get away to go to her Xera.

"Calm down girl." He tried to soothe her, but she continued to struggle, despite the pain it caused her, up until he laid her down in the cart.

"X-Xera." She pulled herself along. Only now did she realize that the entire group had stopped. The cart, Elric, even the White Knights were stopped cold in the middle of the road. Weren't they only like a mile or so away from Loc Lac? How could it be taking them this long to return?

That didn't matter. She had to get to Xera. Her feet seemed to cling to the floor of the cart as she dragged herself to the lithe body.

She remembered what she'd just seen and forced her eyes forward. She didn't want to look down at her feet. At the empty place where her feet would no longer be. Her life as a hunter was gone, completely. She couldn't travel around with the others anymore. She'd be stuck at Loc Lac. No wait, not even that. She was nothing. Loc Lac was for hunters, and she couldn't do that anymore. There was nothing left for her. The most she could hope for was going back to town like Michael had. But she didn't have the kind of experience that he did, so no school would hire her either. She was nothing anymore. The implications were tremendous, and horrifying, but she didn't have the time to think it through right now.

She continued with her dragging until she got to Xera, and then grabbed the taller girl by her shoulders and shook her.

She looked just like she did in her dream. _Had it been a dream? _Actually it had to have been. Xera looked a lot worse now than she had in the dream. In the dream she'd been pale and her lips had turned blue. Now, her hair was sticking up wildly, her stomach was a deep, brutal, mess of bruising that reached up from her panties to her chest, even up around her shoulders. Her bra was ripped too, a series of small tears, almost like teeth, running along the top edge of the back.

Ryuhime's eyes filled with tears. Xera hadn't reacted to her shaking. Everybody around her was dead silent. She wished that her dream had been real, that she was already slipping into death to join the wild girl that she loved.

"No." She croaked out, her voice coming out in a harsh rasp. She fell forward onto the other girl's chest, her head resting against Xera's left breast.

"Ow."

She'd known that this was a stupid idea the minute the hunt was suggested. Had it really been worth it? Xera had wanted to go on the hunt so badly though. Ryuhime just couldn't bring herself to deny Xera her wish.

And who had just said 'ow'?

She felt a soft hand lay on her back as she fell into the darkness again, afraid of whatever nightmare would come, but sure that it couldn't be as bad as her reality was now.

As it turned out, she wasn't wrong, but it was a close second.

* * *

Her nightmare brought her back to when she was a child, just after she was advanced to a higher class the first time. She was now isolated, in an unfamiliar group of people. They immediately saw her as prey, and pounced.

The very first day she was brought in to the new class, the bullying started. Hell, she hadn't even gotten to sit down before it happened. It wasn't like she was unused to it either.

Even when she was in her own grade, she was alone, and everybody else would tease her and pick on her. After all, she was the _freak,_ the genius, the target. She'd had her clothing stolen after she went to bathe after a tough day of training. Most of the other girls had pulled her hair at least once. One day she even been stripped in front of the class, Lynn had let her go home early that day, where she'd cried for hours in her bed.

But right now, her dreams carried her back to her first day in her new grade.

Immediately, they'd seen her as the perfect target. A genius, physically weak, insecure, she was honey on the ham. She was a nice and plump aptonoth steak, rare flank of anteka.

Ryuhime was introduced in the front of the class. "Everybody, please welcome our newest student, Ryuhime. She's coming to us at an accelerated rate, advancing from her previous lessons." The teacher said as she presented the girl.

As Ryuhime walked back to her seat, blushing furiously all the way. The only empty seat in the class was right in the back, surrounded by two large tough-looking students. One of them was covered in scars and had a studded black eye patch covering his right eye. She was petrified of both of them, they were so much bigger than her, and each had a sick smile on their lips. Before she even made it past the third row, the bullying started.

One of the girls seated next to the aisle Ryuhime was walking down was the first among them. She just stuck her foot out into the aisle and inch or two further than usual.

Being that Ryuhime's attention was focused on those students in the back row, she didn't notice the change in position. Even if she weren't looking to the back row, she still wouldn't have seen it. In her arms was a large book, in which she wrote down all of her notes. It probably weighed a good twenty pounds or so.

With no way of her being able to see the foot in the way, she tripped. She tripped, fell, and landed on her arm, complete with the heavy text she was hugging.

It felt like her arm snapped. She kept herself from crying out though. She had dealt with bullies for a while now, and knew that they wanted to hurt her. If she could make it seem like she was still fine, they would give up right?

So she bit her lip, even as the girl who had tripped her bent over to help her back up. "S-sorry." She stuttered as she stood up.

"Better be more careful." The girl said. Her words were kind, but her face wasn't. Her eyes were razor-edged daggers, staring holes into Ryuhime's. Lips were pressed together in a tight line. She looked like she wanted to kill the purple-haired hunter. Or at least make her hurt.

Ryuhime pulled away, rushing to the back seat. Surely these two boys, no matter how they looked, couldn't be as bad as this girl. Couldn't be as dangerous.

She took her seat, subject to the leers of the other students. Every one of them seemed to be trying to strip her down, see her bleeding, whatever. It looked like they wanted her dead, like she was a monster they had to hunt.

Nothing more happened until she left the class. She hadn't been able to pay much attention during class anyway, too afraid to even look up from her book.

She left the academy to go and eat lunch at her house. However, she barely made it out the door before she was tripped again. This time, nobody helped her up. This time, there was more than just the one of them. It seemed like the entire school had turned out for this, whatever it was. The barely functioning rational side to Ryuhime knew that there were nowhere near that many people outside with her right then, but for some reason, she couldn't believe what her mind was telling her. It had to be everybody, there were so many of them.

All of them looked mean.

"Look at the little girl, scared and lost." The same voice from class, the same girl. Her eyes still had the feverish look to them. "Think you're better than us?"

"N-no." Ryuhime tried to deny it, but it seemed nobody was listening.

"Little punk, coming in as a genius." One of the guys out there spat at her. "You're not better than us. We can do anything you can do too bitch."

That same girl moved forward and grabbed Ryuhime by the hair, twisting it tightly around her fist and yanking Ryuhime off balance. She dragged her until she was lying down, and the girl shoved Ryuhime's face into the wad of saliva.

The others all started to move forward, kicking her and spitting down on her. She curled up on the ground, trying to become as small as possible.

It worked for a little while, just a few kicks, but at least they couldn't hit her head. One of the students pulled his foot back and slammed it forward right into her stomach. As a reflex, Ryuhime's hands snapped down to cover the injured area.

Which allowed the brutes free reign to attack her everywhere else. One shapely foot swept down and smashed her right in the face, another kicked her hard right in the back of the head. Another choose to stomp hard down on her feet and calves. One really large foot slammed into her chest, kicking her over onto her back to open even more of her body to the abuse.

It didn't last long at least.

Ryuhime lay on the ground, in a slowly spreading pool of blood. She lay there for a good ten minutes after the beating ended. She would have continued to lay there until, well, possibly forever.

Luckily somebody else came along to help her. As soon as that gentle hand touched her, she passed out.

Then she was moved from that class as well. And again with that next class. She was accelerated through five, six years of schooling, which didn't matter. After all, she was smart enough to keep up with any of the levels of school, they only had to find where it was that she wasn't bullied.

Unfortunately, she was bullied at every level. The only way they stopped hurting her was when she was taught on a one on one basis with her teachers, without anybody else being involved.

That still didn't truly stop them though, only minimize it.

They still waited outside for when Ryuhime had to go home. Or anytime when she was alone. Sometimes it was something small, sometimes just a slap, or some hurtful words. Other times, it was a full hit.

Whenever her teachers asked her what happened, she refused to tell anybody what really happened. After all, what if they hurt her even more for telling somebody? And it wasn't like she could just tell her parents. They'd disappeared ages ago, too long ago for her to even remember what they looked like. She was on her own, so she would just have to deal with it herself wouldn't she?

Just how it always was.

* * *

Ryuhime woke up in fright. She hated that memory. She hated all of her memories. All of them except for the ones about Xera, and those were too few and far between. She hadn't seen Xera at all over most of her school time, except for her first year, when they were in the same class, and the last one when they graduated. It wasn't like she could go and visit her covered in her own blood and bruises.

Wait, Xera!

Ryuhime pushed herself upright, looking wildly around for the dark-haired Xera. She wasn't in the aptonoth cart anymore?

When had she left the cart? Ryuhime now found herself sitting up in a massive, fluffy bed, in a posh bedroom. Where the hell was she? She'd never even seen such a beautiful room, let alone slept in one. This was a thousand times more incredible than even the room she'd borrowed in Elric's mansion. Was that really only two days ago? Oh wait, she'd been asleep, was it three now? Or even four?

"Dammit Ryuhime!" She shouted to herself, her voice rough and hoarse, barely audible, and barely recognizable, even to herself. Her eyes started to fill with tears. There were only two things she liked about herself, and now one of them was ruined.

That wasn't important though. _What was wrong with her?_ She should be looking for Xera dammit! How could she be thinking of herself at a time like this? What kind of horrible person was she? She pushed herself out of the bed, staggering as she did so. She knew immediately that she shouldn't be moving. But that wasn't important. What was important was that she found Xera. When she didn't fall flat on her face, she was impressed. She couldn't look down though, she didn't want to see those bloody ends to her feet again.

She staggered forward three steps before she fell flat on her face. She was impressed with just that much. Without feet, she shouldn't have even made it that far, especially considering that she didn't even have a good sense of balance, never had.

She dug her nails into the floorboards and dragged herself forward about half a foot. Reaching forward again, she tried to pull herself along again.

She only managed to do it four times before her arms gave out on her. She collapsed forward, her arms unable to even bear her own slight weight anymore. Her head smacked into the ground and she thought that she felt the skin open up again. It certainly seemed like it, it felt like she was losing all of the blood in her head in a slowly growing pool, matting down her hair.

_How much blood was there in the head?_ She should know this. She knew everything. But for some reason she couldn't think of the answer.

Maybe her brain had already lost too much blood and that was why she couldn't think anymore. She started crying as she lay there, her salty tears mixing with her blood. That was how they found her later when they came to check on her.

"Ah," Elric tutted. "What did you think you were going to accomplish here?"

"Sh-shut up!" Ryuhime croaked.

"Huh, seems like that devil's stomach acid hit you harder than we thought. Well, now you sound gruff and tough like a hunter should."

"Wh-where's Xera?" She wanted to cry even harder because of the way her voice now sounded, but Xera was most important. She had to know that she was okay before she could be concerned about herself.

"Xera." Elric gave a heavy sigh. "Xera is..." He hesitated.

All of Ryuhime's worst nightmares just came true. Xera was gone, she was dead! Ryuhime started to cry even harder, her body shaking on the ground. What the hell was the point to her life anymore? She'd only come on this stupid mission with this stupid group of stupid morons because Xera had wanted to. Ryuhime knew that they weren't experienced enough for it.

Elric sighed again. "Look girl, I'm sorry." He squatted down and laid a hand on her back. "Don't worry, everything'll be okay."

"How can it be okay when Xera's dead?"

Elric started to chuckle.

Ryuhime felt a surge of anger overcome her and she lunged forward, determined to make him hurt for laughing at Xera's demise. "How heartless can you be!" She said as her rush knocked him off-balance and tumbled him to the floor. "I loved her!"

"Told you." Ryuhime was confused. Elric didn't seem to be saying it towards her. But they were alone in the room right?

Then the door opened.

Ryuhime's eyes filled with even more tears, but this time they were tears of joy rather than depression. Joy because there, framed by the doorway, stood a perfect vision of beauty. _Xera_.

Xera walked into the room, squatted down next to the pair, and patted Ryuhime on the head. Suddenly she pressed forward and locked her lips against Ryuhime's, her tongue squirreling in to wrestle with the shorter girl's. Ryuhime simply sat there on top of Elric and hoped that she wasn't dreaming.

Xera's lips were so soft, and Ryuhime's were so pliant. The dark haired hunter's strong, powerful fingers dug into Ryuhime's chin, manipulating her just so. All of which Ryuhime loved.

When Xera pulled back and released Ryuhime, Ryuhime lunged after her, trying to continue to kiss, but Xera stopped her cold with her next words.

"I love you too Hime."

* * *

**Haha, got you! Alright then, now the mushy romantic stuff is going on and you all dig it right? Well, let me know dammit! Nothing's as good to a writer as to know that people are reading and enjoying their work.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Alright, sorry everybody, but i keep on getting distracted by other things, so most of my writing has been done while I was in class. Yeah, I know, I'm a great student. Anyway, extra long story for you, but bad news. I just finished watching Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan for those who need a translation) and unfortunately, that makes me wanna write a story for that too... And I've already got two other stories that I haven't even published on here yet because I want to finish more chapters... Why must I fall in love with the settings to these shows? T.T**

* * *

Xera's fingers danced along, guided by the gasps and soft moans Ryuhime gave. She was constantly squirming around under the pressure of those soft but heavily calloused hands.  
"If you stay still, it'll be a lot better." Xera whispered slowly. "Just tell me where to go. Guide me with your voice." She grinned wickedly. "I'm doing this for you after all, nothing for me out of this." Her smile said otherwise though.  
Ryuhime sighed, happy knowing that Xera's attention was focused entirely on her. Xera's strong, powerful fingers dug in, perfectly sure of every motion they made.  
Xera pressed hard, digging her fingers in, exploring, delving, diving deep into Ryuhime, drawing pleasured moans out of the other girl. "Feeling pretty good?" She chuckled, roving her eyes across the other girl's nude form.  
"Uh! Y-yes. Ah!" Ryuhime was almost able to speak properly.  
Xera fell even more in love with Ryu at the soft desperation echoing behind the more moaned than spoken words. It was adorable, innocent, a cry for release, begging for Xera to continue her magic. She had put her entire faith into Xera's hands, trusting her completely.  
Sweat coated both of their bodies as Xera bore down hard, trying to drive Ryu up and over and give her the release she needed.  
With a long series of loud cracks, the bones in Ryuhime's back popped. She let out a tight, hissing groan, sounding like it was forced from her. Xera moved on, running her hands out from the other girl's spine and moving to loosen up the hard knots in the her powerful shoulders. Carrying and using her massive switchaxe had tightened her muscles like steel cables. It had been a long time since Ryuhime had allowed herself time to relax.  
She trusted Xera completely though, so she allowed the taller hunter to do as she wished, letting out quiet moans and gasps as the powerful fingers dug around. Xera's sure strokes hit directly where Ryuhime hurt the most. She melted under the pleasant pressure.  
Xera moved down, stroking down Ryu's back, over her hips. Ryuhime blushed as Xera spent perhaps a moment too long with her hands on her hindquarters. But then she moved on, with long, powerful strokes down her thighs first, and then the same down her calves. Xera played her fingers over Ryu's feet, digging only very lightly into the injured skin.  
Ryu had always been disgusted by her feet. Scarred and calloused, they were a testament to her questing as a monster hunter. Now though, ragged and blistered by the deviljho's stomach acids. She couldn't even feel the other girl's touch.  
"Now flip." Xera's command cut through her shame with a biting sting of shock.  
"Wha-" Ryuhime started to say, but Xera cut her off by grabbing her feet and forcing the issue. Despite being so lithe, Xera was packed with muscle. Ryu didn't stand a chance.  
"I said, flip!" Xera grinned wickedly, even more so when she saw just how embarrassed her victim turned.  
Ryuhime instinctively moved her arms to cover her nude form. Her right arm was thrust over her large, ample chest, while her left dropped down and attempted to cover the cleft between her thighs, before Xera had an opportunity to see it.  
Xera had had plenty of opportunities to see all of Ryuhime's many assets, even before the massage. Despite her shyness, they had all shared a collective bathing area back at the academy. And Ryuhime was nowhere near as talented as Xera was at hiding her body. "Come on, arms down by your sides and relax."  
As Ryuhime slowly submitted to Xera's command, Xera took the chance for some careful mental calculations. She'd never had quite such an excellent opportunity to sate her desire for looking at the purple-haired hunter.  
Ryu was lightweight, lithe and nimble like all hunters, especially the female ones. She had a very nice hourglass figure that wasn't common among hunters. With her breasts freed from her usual excessively constrictive clothes, were much fuller than Xera feared, but still not quite as large as she'd anticipated. She guessed that each one was probably just too much to fit in her hand, still much larger than her own, which she could cover completely with her hands.  
Xera wasn't a big fan of her breasts. They were perky and firm, just like Ryuhime's, but she was rather flat compared to Ryuhime's full apple-sized chest. Xera happened to love apples. They were her favorite fruit.  
Down Ryu's body her eyes roved, finally coming to rest upon the smooth mound of her sex. Like Xera, Ryuhime regularly shaved her legs, and her crotch right above it. It had been a few days since her last opportunity to do so, what with all of the hunting they'd been rushed into. There was at least one good detail that came about from being eaten by a deviljho, the acid burned away all of the hair on their bodies.  
She'd asked Ryuhime about it, since the hair was so short, the acid didn't need to work hard on it, unlike on their heads where it would need to work harder. Although Xera was finding that her hair on her head was sticking up all over awkwardly... But she had more important things to deal with right now.  
Xera picked up the bottle of oil and slowly tipped it over her charge's chest. "Just relax." She giggled.  
The freezing oil flowed out and dripped down onto Ryu's chest. Xera circled both of Ryuhime's nipples with the chill oil before running a line down the center of the girl's body. Ryuhime shivered at the cold contact. Xera watched eagerly as the girl's body reacted to the cold.  
Then, as the oil warmed to match Ryu's body temperature, Xera went back to the massage. Her first target was the chest, placing both hands securely, one on each breast before squeezing and testing the firmness of each mound. Ryuhime let out a pleasant noise as Xera tightened her fingers and teased the girl. She was a little disappointed, while the moan was still cute, Ryuhime's voice was still damaged, and she knew that Ryu would be even less a fan of that than she was. But there was still plenty of panting and moans attested to Xera's skills, both sensual and in giving massages.  
With a hint of disappointment, Xera spread out and began to apply pressure over the rest of the girl's chest. From there, it was down to tickle along the bottom of her ribs before her hands glided down across the taut stomach.  
Xera slowly began to work her knuckles into the muscles covering the smaller girl's powerful hips. Despite what most people thought, one did not swing a switchaxe with your arms, at least, not if you were doing it right. It was the same with her own greatsword. She could swing it using only her arms, but first, it would give her horribly disfiguring muscles, and it was just so much more effort. The key to defeating monsters so much stronger was to use inertia.  
Xera didn't think that Ryuhime's hips were overly large, unlike many other hunters, especially the male ones, who were so focused on just bulking up. Ulf came to mind, the big muscle bound moron. Ryu's were a lot cuter than Ulf's at least. Same with most others, like Elric's, despite the fact that he wasn't nearly so muscular as others.  
What was she doing, thinking about those 'men' when she had such a sexy lady lying in the nude right in front of her?  
Xera turned back to the delicious treat right before her eyes. Her fingers drew closer and closer to Ryuhime's center. Closer, closer, she gently brushed her thumb over her little nub, causing Ryu to cry out loud with a moan. But that was all she gave her. Xera quickly continued right down her thighs as if nothing had happened.  
Ryuhime was trying desperately to slow her breathing. She couldn't believe it! Had Xera really touched her down there!? She didn't know if it was an accident or if Xera had done it on purpose. How fast was she planning to have this relationship go? They'd only just confessed!  
Ryu could feel the blood rush to her cheeks as she flushed in embarrassment. She could feel herself growing more excited and aroused, could feel herself growing wetter right where Xera had touched. She was completely at the other girl's mercy, helpless to her every whim and desire. Ryuhime was kinda hoping that she would desire more than just a single rub, than just a massage. She wanted Xera to do so much more.  
Xera played nicely enough, continuing her massage and moved down to her feet. This gave Ryuhime an opportunity to calm down, and Xera had an excellent opportunity to examine Ryu's every niche and fold. All of her nooks and crannies.  
The rest of the massage went without any more embarrassment for Ryuhime, although she could swear that she could feel the attentive gaze burrowing into her most private areas.  
"So how'd I do?" Xera asked with a grin when she finished.  
Ryuhime lay back for a while just to recover before standing up and getting dressed. "Wow, that was amazing." She shook her head in awe at Xera's talent. It had been great, but right now, she yearned for so much more.  
"Maybe next time, you can be the one to give me a massage."  
Xera led Ryuhime out of the room, taking slow steps as she helped her walk. She wasn't able to move very quickly because of the burns from the deviljho. It had only been three days since she'd been eaten, but with regular potion treatment, she was recovering pretty quickly.  
She walked Ryuhime into the kitchen, where all of the others were seated around the table, drinking a mixture of tea, coffee, and in Ashlyn's case, a potent smelling alcohol.  
"How you feeling?" Elric asked, his voice tinged with worry.  
Ryuhime thought about it for a moment. She felt Xera's strong body beneath her and couldn't help but smile. "Happy. I feel happy."  
"That's not wha-"  
"She knows what you meant. But I think that her answer is more important." Xera smiled warmly. Then she leaned over and pulled Ryuhime's mouth to her own and drew her into a kiss.  
"Well isn't that cute." Akuma chuckled. "But, now we have to do a little more. After all, we can't have y'all getting eaten again or whatever. Because that would not be all that good. Or at least, we should get you some stuff so it doesn't hurt as much if you are. So, off to armor hunt!" He slammed a fist down on the table. "Either of you have any ideas about what you might like?"  
"Um...no?" Came from Xera. "But uh, any suggestions?"  
Ryuhime giggled.  
"What about you girl? You got any ideas?" Ratatosk turned his dark gaze onto the short hunter, who backed away and cowered under his intimidating stare. Xera unconsciously leaned to the side, as if to shelter Ryuhime behind herself. Ryuhime gladly accepted the limited cover. She would have hid behind a spoon to avoid that gaze. "Well? What's the matter? Tongue tired out?"  
The White Knights all shared a chuckle.  
"Sh-shut up!" Xera yelled at them.  
"Alright guys, leave them at peace." Elric offered the girls an escape. "Considering they both use heavy weapons, but are lithe and limber, I figure it'll be good for them to shore up their weaknesses."  
"Like how dragging along a weapon that weighs more than your fat ass will keep them slow?" Ashlyn said acidly at him.  
"Haha." Elric deadpanned. "Nargacuga? Barioth? Something that'll give them more speed. More aerodynamic, but still give them some more defense. Improve their dodging wouldn't hurt either. On the other hand, we might try to empower them. Give them some strength boosting armor, locked joints that'll let them keep their grips tighter and harder."  
Ashlyn giggled.  
"It's like Nailah's still here." Xera sighed. "What's idiopathic arrhythmia?"  
"Uh..." Ashlyn glanced at the other White Knights, who all shook their heads in confusion. "Another term for a stupid person?"  
"Ah, just like home." Xera grinned.  
"Isn't Nailah that really dumb girl with Ulf?"  
"I wouldn't say she's dumb." Ryuhime put in. "Just innocent. Oblivious." She blushed and looked away. "And uh, by the way. Idiopathic just means that the cause of whatever is being diagnosed has not been properly identified. Arrhythmia is that there's an irregularity in the individual's heart beating." Then she blushed further and covered her mouth, whispering only, "Sorry," At the end.  
Xera grinned and smacked the back of Ryuhime's head lightly, just before she moved away to grab a drink. Picking up one of the goblets on the table, she sniffed from it. "So what is this stuff anyway?"  
Elric took the drink from her and spun around, placing it down in front of Ashlyn. "How about we keep you two away from drinks that might kill you? At least until you're all healed up from the last thing that nearly killed you? Or am I just asking for too much there?"  
"Fine." Xera huffed. "But what is it?"  
"A drink that isn't for the faint of heart." Elric sighed. "Perhaps the most potent liquor there is."  
Akuma chuckled. "Blood. Blood of the innocent." He laughed at their confused state. "It's a dangerous liquor that some hunters use as an explosive when out against tough monsters. It's also an ingredient in some armors. There are very few who are willing to actually drink it."  
"And for good reason." Naomi said gently. "It's a highly volatile compound, and not much is known about it. Armor that uses it while being made is often said to hold mystical qualities, allowing the wearer to even do the impossible. Or so they say. I've never seen us do anything particularly impossible."  
"Except that time when Akuma-" Ashlyn started to argue.  
"That doesn't count and you know it." Naomi countered. "Akuma isn't possible, so everything he does might be impossible. He also hasn't touched the stuff in ages."  
"And what is this stuff that lets you do the impossible?" Xera wanted to know.  
Elric shook his head. "I'll tell you when you're older."  
"Now you're their dad?" Ashlyn said, her tone venomous.  
"Sure, why not?"  
"Tsk, good luck with that. We're both orphaned from a young age. And I never listened to my elders anyway. Especially the men." Xera laughed. "Hell, I can't even remember what they look like. So try to be my father and I'll treat you like I did him, by ignoring you fully."  
"You do that anyway."  
"My parents both died before I got to meet them." Ryuhime put in. "Before my first year actually."  
Everybody fell silent at those depressing words.  
"We're all orphans here." Ratatosk spoke up for the first time all day. "Although my parents abandoned me, not dying." His drank from the his flagon, gulping heavily of the thick crimson fluid. "That was just after I turned five, but nobody else in my village wanted to raise another child." He set the flagon down and chuckled.  
"Mine died just a few years ago." Naomi put in her story. "So my childhood wasn't quite as hard, but I understand how hard it is to lose your parents."  
"I lost my entire village just after I hit puberty." Ashlyn said simply.  
Elric was next on the list, "Mine lived a full life and died happy at the end. Just a while back."  
Akuma smiled at them all. "Come now, what's with all this depressing talk?" He drained his flagon. "We started out talking about getting armor for these two, so they're not running around half-naked." He pushed himself up to his feet and looked at the two. "It's your decision, but you might wanna follow me." He led them out of the room.  
"I'm going to show you to my pride and joy. Well, one of them." He opened a door that revealed a long narrow staircase. "I call my little gem, The Armory. The others call it my Lair."  
At the bottom of the stairs, he looked at them. "Come on, cheer up," He chuckled. "Don't be so down. You've got the best job in the world, monster hunting. And you're both young, beautiful still. You've got each other. Stop trying to bring me down."  
He got a smile out of both of them. "Good enough."  
He took a ring off of his finger, and then a chain with a half-dozen keys on it from his belt. All seven items were the keys to accessing his Armory. The six keys went into a line of locks along the right edge of the door. Then the ring was placed into the doorknob, completing it and allowing access.  
"Did I miss something?" Xera asked, confused. "Aren't we still in Elric's house?"  
"To the best of my knowledge, yeah." Ryuhime replied.  
"All of the White Knights use Elric's house as a base of operations. I have a house of my own, but it isn't in very good condition, and it's packed full of stuff. It's more a place to keep all of my shiny stuff. Ashlyn and Ratatosk don't bother, if Elric didn't have a house, the two of them would sleep outside, probably cuddling a monster they killed. Naomi has a nice little manor, but she won't allow any of, 'those barbarians,' into her home." He smiled as he opened the door. "But in all of our houses I have one of these."  
Inside, the room had long veins of lightcrystal running through the walls. It kept the room bright enough to see, but not very. Throughout the room, there were about a hundred different pedestals all over the room. Against the walls were a thousand or so hooks.  
On every one of the pedestals was a full set of armor, and every one was different. The hooks held at least one weapon, and not one of those was the same either.  
Neither Ryuhime or Xera were actually able to process what they were seeing. They both headed in and just wandered around, not willing to touch the armor. Next to each set of armor, there was a sign with the name of that armor, along with a couple of the best attributes of the set.  
However, Xera only had her eyes set on one of them. As soon as she saw it, she rushed right over to it. "This is it. The first set of armor I get."  
Akuma's looked at her with a look of helpless amusement. It wasn't a difficult guess that she would have chosen that one. Ryuhime had a look of confusion at first, but it swiftly turned to shock, and then horror.  
"Of course," Akuma grinned. "I shouldn't be surprised by this."  
Xera ignored the two of them, staring at the words written in gold filigree on the sign next to the armor. It was like sweet, sweet wine. Dark green and black, her favorite color scheme, plus it had spikes! The sign told her that the armor let her know where monsters were, and also that it would boost her strength. All of which sounded good to her. She grinned.  
"Yeah, this is definitely it." She turned away and walked out of the Armory. "The deviljho better watch out!"  
Ryuhime exhaled heavily, what was wrong with her? She thought desperately. Not that she doubted Xera, but the last deviljho had nearly digested them. And now she wanted to go hunt down more of them?  
"Did you find anything that interests you?" Akuma's voice from behind her shocked Ryuhime out of about ten years of her life. "Girl can jump." He chuckled as she came down from her frightened leap. "Had to have been at least three feet you cleared. Very impressive since that's about a foot taller than you are."  
"I'm not that short!" Ryuhime protested with a blush. With all of the switchaxe wielding, her hips and thighs were powerful, and all of the running had conditioned her into a compact, lithe form, full of potential energy.  
"Sure you aren't." Akuma patted her on the head as he walked passed her. "Everybody else in the world is just abnormally tall."  
"Exactly," She giggled. Then she started after Xera.  
"Wait. Did you find an armor that you like?"  
She continued on. Oh yeah, she'd found a few. She smiled to herself. Lithe and tight, they'd fit her style just fine. Despite her choice of weapon, well, primary choice, she would rather avoid damage, and avoid being forced to hurt them. She wanted fast armor, smooth and slick, that would allow her to slip right by.  
She ran up the stairs as fast as she could with her feet in their condition, eager to find Xera again.  
Xera found her first. After leaving the armory, Xera had stood to the right of the door, waiting for Ryuhime to emerge. When she did, Xera pounced. She grabbed the smaller woman's arm and spun her up against the wall. Ryuhime would have fallen right then, but Xera came and stood over her, holding her up. Xera's hand went to the wall over Ryuhime's shoulder as her other one still held the girl's arm. A moment to look into those exotic silver eyes, flecked with onyx, before Xera leaned down and pressed their lips together.  
Ryuhime's eyes widened briefly in shock, until she realized that it was Xera's mouth pressed against hers. Then she turned to putty in the other girl's talented hands. Xera seemed hard and fiery, but right now, her lips were the softest things Ryuhime had ever felt. But she was just as fiery.  
Xera's hands moved from the wall and Ryuhime's arm to go down and cup the girl's firm buttocks. The act made Ryuhime gasp in pleasant surprise. When she did, Xera took the opportunity and snaked her tongue between Ryu's soft lips. The smaller girl moaned as their tongues wrestled in her mouth, even as Xera's hands squeezed and groped her rear.  
"Well, this is certainly the most pleasant view I've ever seen coming out of my Lair." Akuma chuckled as he climbed the stairs.  
Xera made a very rude gesture behind her back at him. Then she pulled back from Ryuhime and looked down into her flushed face. She was so adorable! Xera smiled and went back to the kitchen, dragging Ryuhime behind her.  
"Find something you liked in his stash?" Elric quizzed immediately.  
"Oh yeah." Xera's smile widened.  
Elric sighed. "Why do I have a feeling that I don't want to know what you're planning?"  
"I do." Ashlyn grinned wickedly.  
Ratatosk's matched hers. "Aye, I think I'm going to like your choice."  
Xera took a deep breath to increase the dramatic tension, before responding. "I'm gonna hunt deviljho for my first armor."  
The two White Knights burst into laughter. "I love it!" Ratatosk burst out.  
"Aye, she's got a pair bigger than most." Ashlyn agreed. "And a hell of a lot bigger than Elric's." She mocked the poor man.  
Elric sighed.  
"What's her problem with him?" Xera looked to the other White Knights for an explanation. "Cause everything she seems to say is an insult at him."  
"Aye, there's a little bad blood between them." Ratatosk supplied. "Considering they used to go out a while. For almost half a month before something happened and she pushed him out a window. Personally, I think she was disappointed when they first tried to roll around in the sack."  
"I've told you at least a dozen times that that was not what happened." Ashlyn snapped at him, her cheeks turning a light red in embarrassment.  
Elric just sighed. "Do we need to keep on talking about me?"  
"I've decided on my armor set!" Xera declared happily. "But I might need a little help in collecting the raw materials."  
"Oh, and what's that?" Elric asked.  
Xera took a deep breath to explain, just before Akuma walked in and answered for her. "Deviljho. The girl decided that the monster she's going to hunt first to build a set of armor is going to be a deviljho. And knowing her, she'll want to hunt only savage ones, right girl?" He arced an eyebrow at the dark-haired huntress. With her nod he shook his head absently. "Of course."  
Elric sighed heavily. "Well, this oughta be fun." He cracked his knuckles. "Shall we just get right to it?"  
"Wait." Ratatosk held a hand up. "If that's your plan girl, here." He stood up and went into another room briefly, returning a few seconds later carrying a sack. He threw the sack to her. "Here's your share of the last hunt."  
Ryuhime focused on making herself as small as possible while Xera looked through the pouch. She wasn't surprised that they would remember to take some things off to the side for Xera. Nobody ever forgot Xera. She certainly couldn't. She wasn't even all that interested in getting deviljho things, it would just be nice not to be overlooked for once.  
Xera smiled at Ratatosk. "Thanks, but what about Ryu's share?"  
"Aye I've got hers too." He arced an eyebrow at the short stacked huntress. "Just waiting for an appropriate time. But I guess now's as good a time as any."  
Ryuhime stood, utterly shocked as the tall hunter left the room again, quickly returning with another sack of monster pieces. He handed it off to Ryuhime with a grin. It took here a minute to comprehend that it was for her, that other people were paying attention to her, had been paying attention to her back when they were fighting the creature. She took the bag from him and plucked at the drawstrings, opening it to see thick, heavy pieces of green spiky hide.  
"There's a chest in each of your rooms where you can store that stuff until you're ready to use it." Eltic offered. "Go drop them off, then we can go out and hunt something a little easier than another deviljho, train you up for another."  
"Aw, seriously?" Xera complained.  
Ryuhime bit her lip wondering how she should say it. "Um... You guys go ahead and do it... I'm... I'm going to go do something in the city..."  
"Wait, what?" Xera was shocked. Ryuhime was leaving her? "What do you mean?"  
"Just gonna do something for a while, you guys just go out hunting, don't worry." Ryuhime tried to keep herself together, she really didn't want to leave Xera's side for a second. Especially not now that she and Xera had each made their confessions. But she also didn't want to keep Xera from her hunting. "Don't worry about it."  
But Xera did worry about it. Was she moving too fast? Was Ryu attracted to somebody else?  
After all, Xera had just kinda pushed her against the wall and kissed her, without even looking for permission of any kind. She just kissed her. She knew that Ryuhime was shy, it was one of the things that made her so attractive. But she'd just ignored Ryuhime's tastes and taken what she wanted. She was so stupid!  
Xera, the hunter who was almost never bothered by anything, was actually worried. Distressed. Freaking the hell out!  
By trying to get closer to Ryuhime, she was pushing her away. She gritted her teeth and nodded, swallowing hard before she could give the other hunter a smile. "Yeah sure, it's fine." But inside, her chest was hurting.  
"You want some company?" Tethys offered. "I don't fancy hunting a devil'joe. Not right now anyway."  
Ryuhime really wanted to say no, she didn't want anybody to be aware of what she was planning. But all she could do was shrug weakly. Looks like she wasn't going solo...  
"Alright, good news and bad news for you Xera." Akuma smiled. "We've gotta get your rank up if you're going out hunting with us for 'jho." He pointed at Ratatosk, "If you're going to be taking her out for 'jho hunts, you're going to do it right. Low rank quests, high rank quests, g-rank quests. Got it?"  
"Man, you're just taking all the fun out of this."  
Akuma's finger spun to point in Elric's face. "The same goes for you. Get her rank up, I don't care if you speed up the process a little, but just remember the last ones." The mood of the room darkened. "I don't want any more funerals."  
"Yeah, yeah, don't be such a drama queen." Elric chuckled. Despite his calm veneer, Elric was thinking hard on what Akuma had said. He didn't want any more funerals either. "Come on Xera. You want anybody else along? Akuma? Ashlyn? Ratatosk?"  
"Actually, I've got my own jobs to do." Akuma grabbed one of the almost forgotten mugs from the table and drained it. "So I'll be seeing you."  
"Ooo, badass Akuma, out on the hunt." Ashlyn mocked. "What's in your sights today?"  
"Tsk, nothing big, I'm playing in the arenas today."  
"The arenas?" She laughed.  
"Arenas?" Xera asked. "What arenas?"  
"Seriously?" Ashlyn's face was priceless. "You don't even know about the arenas?"  
"Lay off Ogre." Elric waved a hand at Ashlyn.  
"Ogre?" Xera looked over at the silver-furred huntress. With all of her armor on, she certainly seemed evil looking, but she herself was beautiful, How could he call her 'Ogre'?  
"He's called me that ever since I finished this armor." She bumped a fist against her armored chest. "Lightning resistance, anger issues, and fuzzy silver fur to keep me warm. I love this armor more than most of my allies. Took a lot of zinogres to make this. Hell, took ages for me to get the damned gem."  
"So, Ashlyn, wanna tag along on some low quests?" Elric offered with a cavalier smile.  
"Eh?" She blinked.  
"Wanna hunt something weaker than you?"  
"Always." She grinned a nasty grin that said she wanted to make something hurt. "But that could be anything up to an elder dragon."  
"Awesome," Xera smiled. "Let's hunt deviljho then."  
"You heard Akuma girl." Elric laughed. "Not 'til you've got the rank for it."  
"Screw that." Xera pouted.  
During their conversation, Ryuhime slipped out of the room, off on her own quest. She wanted to surprise Xera with her first armor. Hopefully the other girl would like it. The last thing she heard as she left Elric's house was, "Alright, let's get to work on some bird wyverns!" Followed quickly by Xera's groan.


End file.
